Tri'ade Twilight Lord of Nazarick
by Magnus56
Summary: [AU] This is the story of the Arch-Devil Tri'ade Lord of Nazarick. Set in an alternative history of the story of Overlord. A history where Momonga mysteriously left the guild before its collapse and Tri'ade took up the mantle of Guild Master. It is up to Tri'ade now to lead Nazarick in the New World after overseeing the decline of his Guild.
1. Prelude: Landing in the New World

_**Prelude: Landing in the New World**_

 _*Edited and Proofread by PervySageChuck 12/21/2018*_

One can see two figures in the conference hall of the Supreme Beings of Nazarick. Sitting in one of the 41 chairs surrounding the grand circular table was a being clad in strange armor. His armor was of a majestic quality that looked to be some sort of black armor with gold trim. Black steel plates with exquisitely crafted gold trim depicting flame and dragon-like motifs covered the user's usual vital areas but this was not a set of full plate armor. Red dragon leather seemed to cover the arms, mid-section, and legs with a tattered tabard situated underneath the heavily decorated metal plating. A stylized gold dragon's head served as a large belt buckle and the red part of the tabard drew down to the legs of the wearer. Black tattered cloth hid the legs of the wearer partially but the golden greaves and footwear were visible.

One could not see this person's face for it was concealed under a golden mask. This mask hung from the person's head from a golden circlet which protruded golden spikes that stood straight upward. This made the mask bear the resemblance of a crown. One could not see the eyes of the wearer through the narrow slits the mask had but it did not cover the entire face. The lower portions of the face could be seen including the wearer's lips.

The other one was clearly not human, a black slimy blob which looked more akin to tar sat as best one could describe next to the winged individual. One could only barely describe it as sitting however as the slime's form looked to be almost engulfing the magnificent chair it sat upon with only its rear legs free of the blob's form.

The former was an Arch-Devil. A demon of the highest caliber, a master of intrigue and destruction alike. The latter was an elder black ooze, which was a slime race that had some of the most powerful acid abilities in the game of Yggdrasil.

The Arch-Devil spoke first, "I am glad to see you once again, HeroHero. It has been too long. It's a pity we could only meet again on the last day of Yggdrasil."

"Indeed it had been too long, Tri'ade", HeroHero answered with a voice devoid of life.

"Last time we saw each other was around the time you changed jobs IRL. About two or three years ago?"

The two old friends and guild mates talked and exchanged small talk like that for the next several minutes before the black blob of HeroHero said: "I really should get going to bed it is getting pretty late." The blob's tentacle opened a menu, "Sorry, Tri'ade."

Tri'ade waved his arm to try to dismiss the blob's concerns and his own conflicted emotions of seeing his friend leave. "No, no. I understand. To be honest, with our talk you sound like you need the rest."

"I am really sorry... Tri'ade - err, no - I mean Guild Master, what are your plans?"

"I will stay around until the forced logout. After everything I want to stay here until the last possible second."

"I see... I am surprised you managed to keep the place maintained. After Momonga mysteriously left the guild's membership kinda drifted apart."

"Being promoted to Guild Master due to him leaving was not exactly the way I wanted it to go down. But this place has too many good memories you know? I wanted to keep it around should our members decide to return to Yggdrasil. We all put so much effort into building it. It is terrible to think of it dying from neglect."

"I do appreciate it. I would have hated to see it become a dilapidated ruin like it was before we acquired it as a guild base."

"I have saved screenshots of most of the place. I hope there is a Yggdrasil II. We can hopefully rebuild Ainz Ooal Gown there if... well, if the others decide to play it."

"No word on a sequel but that doesn't mean they are not hard at work making it. I hope we can get back together to play again. But I am getting sleepy. Goodnight, Tri'ade."

"Good night, HeroHero."

Tri'ade was sad to see his longtime friend leave, but he understood HeroHero's reasons. The man was about as tired and lifeless as his character sometimes was due to the long grueling hours he worked. In fact, it was miraculous he even made it to the final day of Yggdrasil to say goodbye. Unlike the rest of the guild who had gone their separate ways. Ainz Ooal Gown was a ghost of its former left and its "guild master" was more of a grave keeper of its corpse than its leader.

Tri'ade left for the throne room but before he did he went to grab the Guild Weapon of Ainz Ooal Gown. The guild had originally crafted it for Momonga's use so it was a magnificent staff based on the god Hermes' staff, Caduceus, and consisted of seven intertwined snakes. It was the symbol of the guild. He had never wielded the weapon, mostly because he had truly felt it was never really his to begin with, despite being promoted to Guild Master and because of the risks associated with bringing a guild weapon into battle.

But tonight was a special occasion so he indulged himself by grabbing the weapon from its display area and strolled off in the direction of the throne room. He headed down the stairs where he saw a butler and an assortment of various maids waiting for him there.

Tri'ade checked his menu to recall the name of these NPC's. Sebas Tian and the Pleiades Six Stars were before him. Sebas, the Head Butler of Nazarick, was in front of the assembly.

 _I forgot his name was Sebas Tian. Creative name for a butler. The rest of the Pleiades Six Stars are here too. They must be following their last commands in guarding the throne room against possible intruders. Well, no use for them here now._

"FOLLOW."

Tri'ade led his new entourage through the gates of Judgement into the Throne Room proper. Just like the rest of Nazarick, the Throne Room was a majestic spectacle and a massive room. With flags of each of the 41 members of Ainz Ooal Gown hung up on each side with the great flag of the Guild itself hanging above the Throne of Kings.

He walked up the stairs and stood near the throne and issued the command word "STANDBY" to have Sebas and the Pleiades battle maids to wait before the Throne of Kings. Tri'ade sat upon the Throne of Kings and looked upon the NPC standing at the throne side.

 _Albedo, the Guardian Overseer. Lovely Albedo. She was a succubus, right? But why again did she have black wings? Let us check the settings._

Tri'ade opened a menu with the entirety of Albedo's settings displayed on it.

 _Jesus! Tabula did always go overboard on his NPC settings. Let me see if I can find out why... Oh, Albedo has a backstory suggesting she was a fallen angel._

"Wait. What's this?"

He saw the last line of Albedo's settings simply saying, "By the way, she's a slut". Tri'ade face palmed after reading that last line.

 _Tabula, you seriously go into the effort of writing her settings at length then you add in this short sentence calling her a slut?_

Tri'ade groaned at the notion not only was it uncharacteristically lazy of Tabula but to call the Guardian Overseer of Nazarick a slut in the last line of her settings was too much. He looked over to the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his hands and decided to correct his comrade's mistake by erasing the offending short sentence. But rather than hitting 'save edit' he got an idea.

 _Today is the last day... Let's have some fun._

Tri'ade began writing, "Albedo deeply loves her husband Tri'ade. She is the first wife of the Supreme Being Tri'ade and serves the Lord of Nazarick's every desire. "

The Arch-Devil upon the Throne of Kings was giggling as he wrote the last bit. "I can't believe I am actually doing this... Yet I am. "

Tri'ade dismissed Albedo's settings and other menus he had opened with a wave of his hand. He then sighed then waved his hand downward for the NPC's, "BOW DOWN. I want my last moments to be bathed in a feeling of glory."

He leaned back upon his throne lifting his head to look at the flags of his guild mates. Using the precious last few moments he reminisced in the memory of his dear departed comrades. Noticing the servers only had a few seconds remaining he said, "Well, it was fun while it lasted. But all good things must come to an end"

The Server Wide announcement came "SERVERS SHUTTING DOWN IN 3...2...1.."

It seemed for a few moments, total blackness enveloped Tri'ade's sight until he noticed he was still in Nazarick.

 _Did they push back the servers shutting down? Let me check my menu._

Tri'ade stood up and tried in vain to use his hands to open a menu to try to use the contact GM feature. The air before his hands remained empty.

"Where is my menu?!"

"Your menu, Lord Tri'ade?" The beautiful Guardian Overseer Albedo spoke up.

"Uh, did... did you just talk?" _This is not normal._

"My Lord?"

"Uh..." _WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON?!_

"Do you feel ill, my lord?"

"Uh..." _Wait, her lips are moving too!_

"Please Lord, tell me what's wrong?

"Uh..." _How is that possible?!_

Not knowing what else to do Tri'ade began laughing at the absurdity of his current situation.

"Hahaha! What is wrong? Albedo, did you not notice the change?"

"I am sorry. I did not notice any change. Please forgive me, my beloved."

Tri'ade sat back down on the Throne of Kings and placed his armored hand over his mask. _How did this happen? It's like some lame plot from an anime from the early 2000s. Granted I love those anime...Wait, they're staring at me! I need to give orders!_

"Sebas, go outside of Nazarick and take any Shadow Demons you need to recon the surrounding area for enemies and if you encounter resistance, retreat. Do not go beyond a 1-kilometer perimeter of the Tomb."

Sebas stood up from his kneeling position. "By your command, my lord, I will return."

"Pleiades, I want you situated at the entrance to the 9th floor. If anyone tries to trespass deal with them. Capture them if possible for interrogation."

The Vice-Captain of the Pleiades Six Stars, Yuri Alpha, a woman with black hair and glasses, spoke for the group of battle maids.

"As you wish, my lord. It will be done."

 _They are responding to non-scripted commands. It is like they came alive... It is so eerie. It reminds me of the story where the Greek goddess Aphrodite brought life to a sculptor's creation. Question is, who or what is responsible for bringing life to the NPCs?_

Tri'ade heard a soft giggle next to him and forced himself to look up. Albedo was just staring at him expectantly with a small smile across her face. It was then he noticed he was alone with Albedo in the throne room and remembered the changes he made to her settings…

 _Fuck! Is she expecting an order now that we are... alone?_

Tri'ade's heart began to race. He had been a loner virgin for the longest time and given up pursuing women. Granted he had justified it to himself in so many ways. A woman is expensive, shouldn't you find a woman you can be friends with and look for more than just sex with? Etc. His hobbies playing DMMO-RPG's all the time meant there were few women who actually shared his interests and if they did, they were unlikely to live anywhere remotely nearby.

"So, Lord Tri'ade. Do you have any orders for me to obey?"

 _I knew it. Wait, with the Social Order Maintenance Act in place no DMMO-RPG could ever have lewd content. Even if this was somehow an unannounced Yggdrasil 2, it would never have such things in it... This is a chance to test things._

"Hmm, yes. Come here for a moment will you?"

"Sure!" he said excitedly and Albedo moved in front of him with the giddiness of a young school girl. She moved within inches of his masked face. With that, Tri'ade began to smell a faint pleasant fragrance from Albedo.

 _Smell? I do not know of any Dive technology that could replicate that. Yggdrasil couldn't even get facial animations right when it came out. Well, there are two more things to test._

Tri'ade motioned Albedo to move back a bit then began removing his right armored gauntlet. It was relatively easy, all things considered and it seemed like he instinctively knew how to do it. Tri'ade hesitated for a moment while looking at his hand.

It was somewhat unlike his human hand he was familiar with. The fingers were somewhat longer than he was used to but not freakishly so. It was then Tri'ade sighed in relief that he had chosen a more humanoid form for his main form rather than the Diablo-like form he had originally come up with during his character creation.

Moving on from that momentary distraction he stated, "Albedo, may I touch you?" he motioned with his bare right hand.

"Yes!" Albedo said in almost a gasp and moved closer to Tri'ade's bare hand. With that Tri'ade grabbed Albedo's arm and felt her underneath his hand.

 _Feeling of touch as well? She also has a pulse she is definitely alive. Wait…_

Looking at Albedo he noticed something as he was touching her. She was squirming beneath his touch, cheeks flushed and was making seductive faint gasps of breath.

 _Holy Hell! Is she getting turned on just by touching her arm? Just how sensitive is she? She is a succubus though, perhaps it's just an act to entice me? If it is an act, that alone looks enough not to pass muster under the Social Order Maintenance Act. Still, if Albedo is doing that now I have no idea how she would act under more... stimulation._

Imagining how Albedo would act if he touched her chest, Tri'ade became very hot under the collar. All sorts of lewd thoughts entered his head. He then shook his head to snap himself out of it.

 _NO, NO, NO, NO! I still have no idea how much the NPC's have changed. For all I know, Albedo has the same characteristics as a succubus from legends rather than the game mechanics of one. Meaning she could kill me with a kiss…_

Tri'ade let Albedo go and she still had a flustered look upon her face.

"Albedo, summon the other Guardians besides the ones located on the 4th and 8th floor. I wish for them to meet me at the Arena on the 6th floor to discuss what has transpired. Have them gather there in one hour."

The seductive maiden who, just moments ago was quivering with lewd anticipation, vanished upon hearing her orders. Albedo stepped back and bowed deeply.

"As you wish, my lord."

 _Was it really an act? Or is she simply that devoted to following my orders? Hard to tell. Her settings did say something about her having an emotional mask._

Tri'ade put his right armored gauntlet back on his hand and noticed the attached rings on it. One of them was the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown which all guild members had. With it, he could teleport to the 6th floor with ease. If he could figure out how to make it work.

 _Do I simply will myself to be there? Do I issue a command phrase? In Yggdrasil, there was a menu selection... Okay, let's try the old "think happy thoughts and you'll fly" method first._

Tri'ade began concentrating on the ring and where in Nazarick he wished to be teleported to. He tried imagining the 6th floor of Nazarick's Arena in all of its splendor, the golems in the arena stands and himself in the middle of it all.

Everything turned black similar to how it did when the Yggdrasil servers were supposed to be shutting down. Then the scenery in front of him changed. His surroundings were the grand arena of Nazarick with him in the exact center of it like her imagined.

Tri'ade took a moment to appreciate the wondrous construction around him and what he just did. Making reality bend itself to his will alone was an exciting thought. He looked at the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown on his hand again.

 _So magic items work on the same principle as pixie dust in the old stories? Good to know. I wonder if using magic is the same? The experience of teleportation also felt similar to when the servers shut down. Did something else teleport me to this world? If so, what?_

As Tri'ade pondered the implications of what he had just learned, he heard something from the stands of the arena. "Toooooh!"

A person Tri'ade recognized as Aura Bella Fiora, one of the Twin Guardians of the Sixth Floor of Nazarick was falling through the air onto the Arena floor. Despite the great height and the giant plumes of sand kicked up from the impact of her landing she gracefully stood, seeming no worse for wear. Smiling after her feat of acrobatics, she made a V-sign for victory.

Aura kicked up sand as she rushed over to Tri'ade. She managed to close the distance between them in what seemed to be a millisecond. Despite that, she didn't look like she was out of breath at all.

"Welcome to the 6th Floor, my lord. We are honored to have you with us!"

"Hello, Aura. Where is your brother Mare?"

Upon hearing this, Aura blinked and then spun around yelling, "Mare! Get your butt down here! You are being rude to Lord Tri'ade!"

A faint whisper seemed to emanate from the VIP Box of the Arena. It was only possible to hear from such a distance due to magic carrying the sound to Aura via her necklace.

"I, I'm scared, Onee-chan…"

"MARE!"

"Okay, Okay! Fine. I am coming."

Mare clumsily climbed over the side of the VIP box and fell to the arena floor none the worse for wear. He adjusted his skirt and ran over to where Tri'ade and Aura were. Mare was by no means Aura's physical equal however and it took a second for him to reach them.

"Hurry it up! We are getting old here!" Aura said, annoyed at the slow pace her brother had compared to her earlier.

"I am hurrying!" Mare bowed to Tri'ade "I apologize for making you wait, Lord Tri'ade."

"It is no issue, Mare. I have come to your floor for a gathering of the other guardians in about an hour's time."

Aura had her hands behind her head as she sighed and said, "Does that mean Shalltear's coming?"

"Yes, it does. However, before they arrive I wanted to practice a few things. Can you set up a few target dummies? "

Aura and Mare had a look on confusion on their faces, then Aura asked, "Practice? For you? A Supreme Being?

Tri'ade chuckled, "Yes, Aura. I wish to do some practice. After all, practice makes perfect."

With that, Aura instructed some of her Dragonkin minions to place some target dummies in a row some distance in front of Tri'ade.

 _Now to cast some magic. What spell should I start with?_

Upon thinking those thoughts the wide array of magical spells that he knew, and their general characteristics like range or area of effect popped into his head like he was recalling something he was intimately familiar with.

 _Useful. It seems not only my body has changed but aspects of my mind as well? This bears investigating later. Now, let's start off with a divine type spell._

Tri'ade raised his left hand pointing at one of the training dummies and then focused his mind to call a pillar of flames onto it. The result was a 40-foot cylindrical pillar of fire raining down upon the dummy, turning it into ash. With that, he heard Mare speak up.

"Ah...amazing."

 _Is it so amazing I cast Flame Strike? After all, it is only a mid-tier spell._

"Is it truly that amazing, Mare?

Mare shouted which surprised Tri'ade. "Of course it is! You cast the magic without an incantation."

 _Incantation? Wait... Is he referring to declaring the spell's name before casting? Of course…_

Tri'ade never liked the fact that in Yggdrasil, you had to declare the spell before it took effect. It seemed too cliche for him, like something out of a bad anime. So when he heard he could take an automatic silent spell ability once he got high enough in level for one of his classes he did so. It didn't hurt his build that much. He was basically a jack of all trades build with him being both a Mystic Theurge and an Arcane Warrior. It limited his combat ability in certain fields compared to people like Ulbert or Takemikazuchi, who were specialists, but he could serve in almost any role as a result.

Ulbert even said it was quite devious due to the fact few players didn't really memorize that many spells, only those that they used or expected to encounter. So it enabled him to get the element of surprise in magical combat unless someone had memorized a vast number of spells like Momonga did. The main trade off of the automatic silent spell ability was the opportunity cost. At the proper level, one could acquire it. You could then easily acquire far more valuable meta-magic like automatic quicken spell. Most high-level magic users take AQS right away as it enables most spell casters to get higher DPS ratings as a result, or if a healer a higher rate of healing.

That said, given his ability to cast divine and arcane spells, his spell roster was immense so this surprise factor was invaluable. Aiding this, Tri'ade also had an ability called "Sacrifice to the Dark Gods" which basically involved ritually sacrificing people to gods to gain their favor. Through said favors, he could learn new spells and some other things depending on the size of said sacrifice. The cost of the sacrifice for larger favors tended to rise exponentially so there were diminishing returns. Needless to say, back in Yggdrasil he sacrificed countless people to bolster his list of known spells and for other things.

It was just a game after all and he always liked playing the villain. So, of course, he felt no remorse for what he did back then but now that his game world had become real? He felt uneasy thinking about it. Back on Earth, he tried to be nice and considerate of others but in games, he was anything but that. He had to admit to casting lightning bolt more than once pretending he was Palpatine from the old Star Wars movies.

Tri'ade and Ulbert had that much in common at least, though he felt for different reasons cause he never really fought with Touch Me. It was partly because of this he was voted in as Guild Master after Momonga left to help mediate disputes between the two who were causing a split in the guild.

 _Let's try casting an arcane spell now. It would suck if my arcane warrior abilities stopped working._

Arcane Warrior was one of the various classes that enabled an arcane magic user to wield martial weapons and to use arcane spells while using armor.

It was a favored class for many jack-of-all-trades builds primarily for this reason. It also had a few select flavor abilities like Arcane Might and Luminous Shield which drained mana for physical combat bonuses. They tended to be of limited use though, given how rapidly they could drain your mana due to the nature of the abilities. Arcane Might essentially imbued your body and weapons with arcane energies giving bonuses to physical attributes which could stack with other spells and added pure magical energy damage to one's weapon. Luminous Shield basically created a bubble shield of concentrated pure magical energy providing stacking armor, spell resistance, and damage resistance bonuses.

Given that most multi-class builds had lower mana pools than specialized magic users, these abilities were costly due to the relatively high mana drain. They would be damn near useless if they didn't stack with other more persistent spells, but the Developers added that in a later patch. Thus it made these abilities useful for short duration buffs, like for example using Luminous Shield when defending against players with strong DPS capability like Ulbert when they began using their more powerful spells or to get warriors like Takemikazuchi on the defensive using Arcane Might.

Tri'ade raised his left hand and pointed to one of the remaining training dummies on the field. However this time he decided to try out an "incantation".

 **"** 「Fireball」"

A small globe of fire shot out from his outstretched fingertips and it soon struck the straw man. The impact struck home and the globe of fire expanded outward turning everything in the area into a sea of flame.

 _Good, it seems my armor is not impeding my arcane casting ability._

Tri'ade continued practicing with his spells to determine basic things like casting time and differences between incantation spells and silent spells.

It seemed like it took the same time to cast spells as it did in YGGDRASIL but it was far easier to cast the spells. Silent spells seemed to need a bit more concentration to cast but otherwise cost the same mana amount.

"Good... Good," Tri'ade said, his voice filled with satisfaction.

"Tri'ade-sama, should I prepare more training dummies?" Aura asked, not truly knowing what her Lord and master wanted from this practice.

"No thank you, Aura. This should be enough practice with evocation magic for today. I need to try something else."

 _Now I should try some summoning magic... I wonder if my ability to summon angels has been affected? I didn't take any summoning classes. That would normally prevent me from doing this, but in this new world, anything is possible. Let's avoid summoning a Seraphim for now though. I do not know how controlling summons works in this world._

"「Summon Angel Eighth」"

A large angelic figure with four white wings and the head of a lion appeared before him wielding a great shield and a fiery lance.

Cherubim Gatekeepers were level 80 angelic summons which specialized in the role of being a tank for their casters. Lore wise, they were said to be the guardians of the gates of Heaven and resided in the First Sphere just below that of the Seraphim who were the direct servants of God himself.

Tri'ade felt a mysterious connection to the Cherubim. Almost like his mind was linked to the creature. To test this out he gave a move command to a place nearby without saying anything and the Cherubim dutifully obeyed.

 _Huh, the Cherub seems to act like a mentally dominated slave? I wonder if all summons are like that? The Planar Ally spell has you summon an Outsider but you need to convince them to join you. I might need to experiment with that later._

"Uwah..."

Aura was watching intensely with a look of admiration in her eyes. As a beast tamer, she could never summon outsiders and for her master to easily summon a high tiered angel who in any other circumstances would be opposed to him was mesmerizing for her.

"Aura do you want to do some practice of your own? Do you wish to fight it?"

"Ehhh?"

After a moment's hesitation born from confusion, Aura smiled mischievously, "Can I?"

Tri'ade responded "Knock yourself out. I bet it has been boring without any intruders to fight."

Mare began to quiver and said "I remember I need to do something urgently. Have f-"

Before Mare could back out Aura firmly grasped his arm to prevent his retreat. His sister dragged him in front of the Cherubim Gatekeeper. Mare desperately looked at Tri'ade for help.

Tri'ade clapped crushing those hopes, "Mare you and your sister fight as a team. It would be bad practice if you didn't support her in this fight. Don't be afraid. As long as you two are together, you got this."

Aura got out her whip and held the length of it in her other hand. She then said "That's right you scaredy cat. What do you have to be afraid of when your onee-chan's here? I am the one who's gotta worry about being poked."

Mare brightened up hearing his sister say that and looked to finally find his courage.

"R-Right!"

"Then let the battle commence!" Tri'ade used his mental link with the Gatekeeper to order it to attack the twin guardians.

The Cherub tried to impale Aura with its fiery lance but Aura deftly jumped to avoid its attacks while Mare stood back to support his sister with magic. The Cherub followed up its initial attack with another thrust while Aura was falling through the air. Mare defended his sister by casting Magic Shield upon her blunting the attack.

The battle continued on like this. It was easy to see who the victor was going to be. This was not unexpected, however. Both Guardians were level 100 while the Cherubim Gatekeeper was a level 80 creature. The fight was uneven, to begin with.

While the twins were distracted, Tri'ade decided to try to use the spell Message to contact HeroHero and the GM's.

While HeroHero did log out prior to server shutting down he had hoped his old friend somehow got caught up along with him in it. Selfish as that was, he wished he had someone he could relate with him. Contacting the GM's was just to confirm that this was not simply an extension of a Dive enabled gaming experience.

Both messages failed to connect.

Tri'ade audibly sighed. Disappointing but not entirely unexpected. I am the lone player in this world. Granted there might be other players in a similar situation but I do not know them. More importantly, they might view me as a threat to be eliminated given Ainz Ooal Gown's reputation as player killers.

It would be troublesome if the other guilds suffered a similar situation he found himself in now. While near the end of YGGDRASIL many guilds lost membership, Ainz Ooal Gown's membership was always small to begin with. It would also be difficult to ally with the other guilds given his guild's reputation. In the past, a coalition of guilds teamed up to raid The Great Tomb of Nazarick in an effort to finally crack their legendary defenses.

One thousand five hundred players were involved in that invasion and the raiding group was only stopped on the 8th Floor thanks to Tabula's monster of an NPC named Rubedo and the other defenses arrayed there. It was good that it was stopped there of course. Because if they managed to get past the 8th floor, defeat was nearly guaranteed for Ainz Ooal Gown. The Pleiades Battle Maids were only meant to be a speed bump to allow the guild to make a final stand in the Throne Room.

That was back when Ainz Ooal Gown was in its prime though. Tri'ade was the sole remaining member and had to work hard to just maintain the status quo of Nazarick. While Nazarick was still to be feared strategies of attrition were not favorable. Even if the Great Tomb fended off another invasion they couldn't recover from it. Leaving them perfect targets for other guilds for follow up attacks.

He needed more information before he could realistically plan his next steps. Tri'ade then remembered about Sebas's mission. Tri'ade sent a message to Sebas and it connected.

"Lord Tri'ade?"

"Yes, Sebas. I wish a progress update on your mission."

"Yes, my lord. I, along with the Shadow Demons you assigned to me, have surveyed much of the area around Nazarick. We are surrounded by grassy plains, with no intelligent creatures in sight."

"Grassy plains? Not a swamp?"

"Correct, my Lord."

 _So YGGDRASIL didn't become real but the Great Tomb of Nazarick was transported to an entirely new reality. Huh... Makes a bizarre sort of sense really. If you consider the multiple worlds theory in quantum mechanics. Though I guess it's no longer just a theory. Might also explain why the NPC's have become so lifelike. Previously they couldn't even handle complex orders or even leave the Tomb._

"Is there something wrong, my lord?"

"No, just considering the implications of this. We are going to have a meeting of the Guardians on the 6th floor to discuss the current situation. Please come back to report your findings to the others. Leave the Shadow Demons on a perimeter patrol and instruct them to report if they find anyone trying to enter Nazarick."

"Understood, my lord. I will be there as soon as I can."

As if on cue, Aura and Mare's fight with the Cherubim Gatekeeper came to an end. Aura's whip slashed through it one last time and it turned into a cloud of white glowing particles. These particles acted like dust in the wind and dissipated quickly. Tri'ade could feel the link to it slowly fading away. The Cherubim really had no chance against the two of them working together.

The twins ran over to him and he then saw the beads of sweat on their skin. They tried to wipe it away but more of it came.

 _Huh, it shouldn't but it continues to surprise me how life-like they have become._

"It seems like the two of you had a good practice match."

Aura smiled an innocent smile, "That was fun! I haven't exercised that much in a while. It was getting dull around here without any intruders."

Tri'ade smiled at this cause he knew in his heart despite their power they were still just two kids.

 _Perhaps some regularly scheduled practice sessions would be good for the Guardians... Being ready to defend Nazarick all the time must be so boring without anyone attacking us._

"You two must be thirsty. "

Tri'ade then tried recalling on how he could access his inventory and imagining it in his head. Hopefully, the inventory system worked as magic did. He reached out into the air and felt his hand hit something. He saw his hand get swallowed up by a small black portal and he moved his hand to get a feel around in it.

It was with that motion a hole appeared out of nowhere and he saw numerous items laid out before him. Tri'ade tried moving his hand again and the hole seemed to move with it allowing him to see different items laid out before him.

 _It works so similar to the inventory system of YGGDRASIL except no menu's. It just manifests into action_. _Now let us see if I can find that Pitcher and a few glasses._

Tri'ade found the glasses easily enough at first and handed them to the twin's who accepted them with a puzzled look on their face.

 _Found it!_

He grabbed a large glass pitcher out of his inventory. The Pitcher of Endless Water. It somewhat felt cold to the touch and one could see condensation on the surface of the Pitcher.

 _Now that I think about it I haven't had anything to drink since I came here._

Letting go of the Guild Weapon for a moment he reached back into his inventory and got himself a glass pouring himself some water. Then he went to fill the glasses the Twins were still holding onto which surprised the Twins. This caused Tri'ade to stop.

"What's the matter?"

"It's not good that you're serving us, right, Tri'ade-sama..."

 _Ah. I am not used to the whole master-servant relationship. Of course their uncomfortable with their master serving them a drink._

"I do not mind something as trifling as serving you two water but if you feel it is important you can serve yourselves."

Tri'ade handed Aura the pitcher and she accepted pouring herself and her brother before handing it back to him.

He looked at the clear water in his glass before lifting up his Golden Mask to pour it past his lips. Tri'ade was amazed at the quality of it. It had none of the filtered taste of tap water. He had never tasted such fresh water. Granted, back in his world one could buy specialty waters but he always viewed them as money grabbing scams and never bought any. Now though, he could see why people would bother paying for such a thing.

"I have to admit Lord Tri'ade, I thought you would be scarier."

"Oh? Do I need to scare you?"

"No! No, you don't!"

Tri'ade was kind of taken aback at Aura's rapid reply. Then Aura muttered something under her breath which he managed to hear.

"Lord Tri-Tri'ade, are we the only ones that you're nice to…?"

"You guardians are the creations of my dear friends. Why would I be cruel to you and not be nice? You are loyal are you not?"

Both twins stiffened at this answer and then bowed. "Of course, Lord Tri'ade. We live to obey."

"Then you have your answer, you may rise."

 _Good. They don't necessarily see kindness as a weakness. Still, I suppose I've got some learning to do to act the part of a master to them._

It was then that a black portal opened up nearby and a petite young vampire in a black ball gown walked through it. Shalltear Bloodfallen had just arrived, the Guardian of the first three floors of Nazarick.

"Oh, wow! Lord Tri'ade!"

Shalltear Bloodfallen ran over to him like a giddy schoolgirl and tried to hug him with her hands around his neck. The thing was, Tri'ade being so tall, all she did was pull his neck down like she was trying to hang from it.

"The one man I could never rule above! My eternal beloved!" Her carmine lips parted, revealing a moist, slick tongue. The tongue moved like a living creature as Shalltear lovingly licked her lips. Her fragrant breath wafted out from her open mouth.

 _I did not touch her settings! I did not make her love me. Wait ... her creator was that hentai-lover, Peroroncino. This isn't love. It's lust! Damn him for making a Loli!_

While Tri'ade was flustered and flattered by Shalltear's advances, he was distinctly uncomfortable accepting them. So he put his hands on her waist lifted her off of him. She squeaked in delight having him touch her but he simply set her off to the side leaving her with a look of disappointment.

"I do not have time for this right now. Later, Shalltear."

"I understand my beloved. Business before pleasure."

 _Ugh. I touched Peroroncino's fap material... No, I suppose it is unfair to call her that. I need to find a way to let her down gently._

Looking at Aura, she looked annoyed as she protested, "Lord Tri'ade doesn't want you slobbering all over him"

"Shut it, half-pint!"

"Who are you calling half-pint, fake tits?!"

Aura and Shalltear continued bickering like this when he heard a third voice pop up.

"Stop. Acting. Like. Children. In. Front. Of. The. Master."

The voice was from Cocytus, Guardian of the 5th floor, who had just arrived. He was a large insectiod creature that looked like a hybrid between an ant and a mantis.

"I'll stop once this elf-bitch pays for her insolence!"

"Try it, Vamp!"

Cocytus began freezing part of the arena's floor to try to interrupt the fight and Tri'ade felt it necessary to intervene.

"Enough! Quit your bickering."

Both Aura and Shalltear bowed deeply. Both of them said in unison, "Forgive me, my lord".

Tri'ade turned his gaze to Cocytus.

"I am glad you are here, Cocytus."

"I. Will. Always. Come. When. You. Call."

 _Precious. Cocytus seems so earnest in that. Maybe they all feel that way? I guess I am the leader of their creators in the flesh. Thinking of me as a sort of God is not far off._

Tri'ade smiled at that thought. It would make things so much simpler for him, he thought, if that were the case. Only Satan rebels against God after all.

"Sorry everyone, I hope you were not waiting too long."

Speaking of the Devil. A Devil was the one that spoke up and he was dressed in an orange business suit. This was Demiurge, Guardian of the 7th floor. If Satan had a lawyer he would probably look like him. He was walking behind Albedo and she took a lead position in front of the other guardians once they had arrived before their Master.

Albedo spoke to her master with conviction in her voice, "My Lord. We, the Guardians pledge our fidelity."

"I am the Guardian of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Floors, Shalltear Bloodfallen. I serve and obey my beloved master. " Shalltear placed her hand over her heart and bowed deeply.

"I. Am. The. Guardian. Of. The. Fifth. Floor. Cocytus. I. Serve. And. Obey," Cocytus began kneeling down and lowered his head in respect for his master.

Both twins placed their hands over their hearts and bent the knee, "I am Guardian of the Sixth Floor, Aura Bella Fiora."

"I-I am also a Guardian of the Sixth Floor, Mare Bello Fiore, we serve and obey."

"The Guardian of the Seventh Floor, Demiurge. I serve and obey " The deceptively devilish Demiurge placed his hand over his heart and knelt.

Finally, the beautifully seductive Albedo did the same as the others, "Guardian Overseer Albedo, I serve and obey my beloved husband. Other than Victim, Guardian of the 8th Floor and Gargantua who faithfully guards the fourth, the Guardians have gathered as requested and pledged their undying loyalty. Supreme One, we wait for your orders. You need only ask it of us and it shall be done!"

With the Guardians declaration of fidelity, Tri'ade smiled wickedly.

Tri'ade, Lord of Nazarick Character sheet

Racial Level

Imp (10)

ArchDevil (5)

etc ? (20)

Job Level

Magician (10)

Cleric (10)

Necromancer (10)

Master of Death (10)

Arcane Warrior (5)

Mystic Theurge (5)

Archmage (5)

etc ? (10)

HP: 80

MP: Maximum

Phy. Atk. 75

Phy. Def. 80

Agility 60

Mag. Atk. 85

Mag. Def. 90

Resistance 95

Special Ability 100


	2. Volume 1: Chapter 1: Settling in

_**Volume 1: Arrival, Chapter 1: Settling In.**_

 _*Proofread by PervySageChuck 12/22/18_

 _The Guardians are mine to command and do with as I please. I had feared since I was merely Momonga's replacement after he disappeared I would not be truly recognized._

"Most excellent, my Guardians. I know you will do Nazarick proud in your service to it and to myself. However, I am curious. Why declare your fidelity now?"

The guardians looked at each other in confusion and Albedo spoke for the group, "Because this is the first time the Guardians have gathered in one place before you and the first time we could declare our loyalty to you, most Supreme One"

" _Could_ is an interesting choice of words, my dear. Do you even know why you couldn't before? Do you know of today's significance?"

Albedo was in an unusual state. She was clearly feeling delighted and joy from being called 'dear' but her inability to answer her beloved's question filled her with worry. The closest thing it could be described as would be 'bashfully meek', "N-No... I do not. I am sorry my lord to have failed you in this."

 _Damn! Seems the Guardians are a bit slow... Well, if you consider today to be the day of the birth of their consciousness and how they likely received no formal education, I shouldn't be surprised if they are a bit like that._

"You didn't fail Albedo, I was merely looking for an honest answer. You succeeded in that."

"Thank you, my lord."

Sebas Tian was late to arrive at the gathering of the Guardians and was just now coming into the arena. The golden mask of Tri'ade turned to Sebas as he arrived.

"Good, you are here, Sebas. Excellent timing. Please give your report to the Guardians."

"Yes, my lord."

Sebas began explaining to the Guardians the fact that Nazarick was no longer surrounded by swamps but instead by large plains of grass with no creature sighted for kilometers around them.

"Albedo, do you now know of today's significance? "

"Yes, my lord. It is the day the Great Tomb of Nazarick was brought to this place by your magnificent power to save us from the end of YGGDRASIL!"

Demiurge nodded in agreement, "Truly there is no other answer. For who else could have achieved such an astounding feat!"

The other guardians soon followed suit in this bringing praises upon him for making this day happen.

Tri'ade just face palmed at this credulous sight he beheld. _You think I am responsible for this?! No, I could never live up to that charade. CRUSH that idea! I know how to bullshit with the facts. I did it all the time improvising in our role-playing sessions!_

"You, our creations are so wonderfully naive. But no I am not responsible for this. I waited till the end of YGGDRASIL to be with you as long as I could. Not to save you. That was beyond even my power."

Demiurge spoke up adjusting his glasses as he did, "Then forgive my ignorance my lord but what did?"

"I do not know at this time. Certainly, I have theories, but no evidence. There are natural forces that are beyond even my knowledge. For space is infinitely more vast than you all probably realize. Do you see the sky Blue-San has depicted above us Demiurge?"

"Yes, my lord. It is a wondrous depiction of the night sky filled with stars."

"What is a star, Demiurge, but a Sun by another name? There are countless stars in the night's sky. Each one of them a solar system with its own collection of planets. Just as star's are the center of a Solar System these Solar Systems revolve around a Black Hole to make up a Galaxy. Countless Galaxies make up a Universe. Then there is an even bigger scale of a reality which consists of the Universe and dimensional planes. "

"And you are the greatest being in all of reality. You are a Supreme Being."

Tri'ade laughed maniacally, "Hahaha! That is the thing I am trying to tell you all. We are not in the same reality anymore! There is an additional hierarchy of space you are not considering. As I said space is infinite. There are infinite realities and the sum total of them is called the multiverse. It is ever expanding and contracting. Even realities are given enough time and the right conditions to live and die. YGGDRASIL died and by some unknown means, Nazarick has been transported to this unknown reality. "

Aura had a curious look on her face, "How do you know this, my Lord?"

"Because I died today, Aura."

Decorum broke down and several of the Guardians yelled out the following.

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

"How?!"

Tri'ade put the finger of his hand to his lips to silence the guardians, "Or more accurately to say my original body died. For you see, my people, let's call them Terrans, created the reality that was YGGDRASIL. I was born a Terran and lived as one. I was given the means to create this body and to control it as a puppet within YGGDRASIL because I was one. When we were transported to this reality my connection to my original body was cut. A body without a soul is dead. That is how I know all of this."

Cocytus was using two of his arms to scratch his head in confusion, "I. Apologize. I. Am. Having. Trouble. Following. Any. Of. This. What. Does. This. Mean. For. Us?"

Tri'ade raised his hands as if reaching for the night sky above them, "It means, Cocytus, that today is a new day for Nazarick! We are in an entirely new realm of possibilities! No longer will we be fated to stagnate and decline as we did with the departure of my fellow Supreme Beings. Today is the beginning of a new era for the Great Tomb of Nazarick!"

Tri'ade put down his arms and put them both behind him, "Play your parts well, my Guardians and Nazarick will last eternally. Failure to do so will mean the end of all of us. We either adapt to this new reality or we die."

Albedo spoke with her hand over her chest, "What are your orders, Supreme One?"

"My orders are simple. We must establish a means of intelligence gathering. We are like newborn babies in this world, ignorant of nearly everything that this really is. We must be vicious in our search for knowledge lest our ignorance doom us.

Furthermore, we must augment Nazarick's defenses any way we can. We must delay our discovery to the wider world as long as possible. To this end, I command you to conceal the location of Nazarick using any means possible. We also need to find means to replenish Nazarick's resource stockpiles. Otherwise, we are doomed to waste away from attrition should we find ourselves in constant conflict.

"Albedo and Demiurge, I entrust you to take the lead on these tasks and for the rest of you to follow their directions in these matters."

"You can count on us, my Lord. We will not fail you."

"Good."

Tri'ade turned his golden mask towards Sebas, the head butler of Nazarick, "Sebas, I will be retiring to my quarters for now. I do not wish for anyone to disturb me. Only do so if there is an emergency. It has... been a long day and I wish to rest."

Tri'ade then used teleportation via Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to the entrance of his private chambers. He then entered the magnificent suite which was more like a luxurious apartment for royalty than anything he had ever visited back on Earth.

He didn't even bother getting out of his armor and collapsed on the gigantic king size bed in the middle of the master bedroom. Tri'ade was completely wrecked from his performance mentally.

 _I have no fucking idea how well I did. I might have screwed everything up without knowing it. But fuck it, I did what I felt was right and did my best performance of my life... Speaking of performances, how in the hell did I become so eloquent and come up with so much on the fly? I could never speak my mind so well before…_

Thinking on it, Tri'ade assumed it was due to him being in his arch-devil avatar rather than his human body. He had a mixture of high intelligence, wisdom and a decent amount of charisma he used to buff some of the effects of his clerical abilities.

 _So not only have I become smarter and better at communicating, I have also acquired the ability to bend the very fabric of reality to my whims using magic, at least to a degree... And a base full of devoted servants. Can't forget that..._

Tri'ade thought back on his life on Earth. He was a man entering his thirties, a worker drone and his parents had died a few years back. He never really looked for romantic love because he thought it would be cruel to bring a newborn into the polluted shit stain humans had made of Earth. He spent most of his days playing YGGDRASIL, watching anime, or working to pay for the previous two things.

 _The cost of all this is my life as a human is now gone? Can that truly be enough for all of this? Did I also somehow sell my soul to get this to happen? I don't remember making such a deal._

He shifted uncomfortably on the bed in his armor.

 _Well, I can't sleep wearing this armor. Now I know I had a quick-change crystal installed in this thing... Where was it? I think it was on my belt buckle... the dragon eyes._

Tri'ade touched the eyes of his golden dragon head belt buckle and his armor dissipated and changed with a set of magnificent caster robes that were various shades of purple with silver trimmings. The huge spikes both on his cowl and his horned helmet were bothersome. At least now he doesn't need help to try to unlatch all the metal plates and armor he had on.

These caster robes were a secondary outfit he had equipped with quick-changing crystals that would primarily augment his spell-casting ability to support his guildmates. It was useful back in Ainz Ooal Gown's heyday when he wasn't the sole remaining member left. He didn't use it much these days because the times he went out to gather resources, he was basically doing so alone.

He began stripping himself of his robes starting with his helmet, then his cowl, his rings, his gloves, then finally his robe itself. It was tedious but he accomplished his goal. Tri'ade was stark naked. Tri'ade put his equipment into his inventory space, normally back on earth he would leave it on the floor but he couldn't afford to have his servants later think he was a slob.

 _You know I haven't seen my avatar's body since I came here. And never in the buff. I wonder what I look like?_

There was a changing mirror on the other side of the room and he went over to it. It was then he saw his new body. On his head he had flowing black hair going as far down to be level with his nose. It was parted to avoid getting into his eyes of course. Partially obscured by his hair he noticed two short horns protruding upward from his head. His eyes they were mostly human looking if you ignored the fact that his iris's glowed red. Like Demiurge, he had a mostly humanoid face but his ears were pointed.

It wasn't these that caught Tri'ades eyes, however, "By the gods, I am ripped. Look at this six pack and my arms. My fat ass back home could barely do ten push-ups. I bet I could bench-press a couch. Though given my strength stats it's probably more than that!"

As his eyes pressed ever lower on his frame below his abdomen and he placed his right hand to scratch his beardless chin, "And that is most certainly bigger than the old one."

Tri'ade thought for a moment about inviting Albedo to his room to see exactly what he could do with his new body but decided against it. Until he knew more it was too dangerous to engage in such things.

 _Besides, what if we had a child? We are both demons so it's definitely possible. But who would the Guardians follow? Myself or both myself and my child equally? What if my child rebels against me as so many often do?_

Tri'ade shuddered at the implications.

 _It would be a civil war in Nazarick. Demons do not die of old age so my child would never get his inheritance unless I died a violent death. So he would have the motive to kill me... and he would be a pureblood demon, so I don't know if I could foster his love in him towards me. Can demons even know love and compassion? Albedo seems more like a bitch in heat than someone in love._

He decided he had spent too long agonizing over everything today. He was tired and was going to sleep. Maybe if this day was really a dream he would wake up from it and be back in his old bed back on Earth. If not, then that was just another nail in the coffin of his old life. Tri'ade got underneath the sheets of his king size bed and got comfortable before drifting off to sleep.

Meanwhile, back in the Arena of the 6th floor shortly after Tri'ade left... The guardians still in kneeling positions slowly rose one after the other after their Lord and Master left them.

Mare leaned upon his staff as he got up, "I thought I was going to faint. That was sooo scary..."

Aura got up and looked at her brother.

"Seriously! If the pressure wasn't enough, I thought my heart would stop after he said he died!"

Demiurge looked down at the twins as they said this, "I believe he was being cruel to be kind enough to enlighten us on what he knew to be the truth. Lord Tri'ade could easily have let us believe he saved all of us to further our loyalty to him."

"I. Still. Don't. Understand. Planes. Black Holes. Solar Systems. But. If. Master. Wishes. Me. To. Defend. The. Tomb. I. Will. "

"I will try to explain it later to you, Cocytus but Albedo, I believe we need to follow our Master's orders he left for us."

"We need to find some way to conceal Nazarick from outsiders I doubt magic alone will suffice."

Mare hesitated and said meekly, "We could use dirt to cover Nazarick's walls to make it look like a mound."

Albedo raged at this notion, "You would smear the glory of Nazarick with dirt! Have you no pride! I..."

Demiurge spoke and augmented his voice with his Command Mantra ability. While it would have no effect on the guardians it would ensure his words would be listened to and would sound more pleasant. "Adapt or die is what our Lord Tri'ade told us, Albedo. If we fail in concealing Nazarick it might be the end of the Great Tomb."

A pained look came across Albedo's face for an instant then vanished. "Yes, of course. You are right. I apologize. The mere thought of soiling Nazarick in such a way..."

"I know Albedo but bear with it. Mare, can you make dummy hills as well and use illusion magic to cover the parts not covered by dirt? One large mound would be abnormal on the plains."

Mare, still reeling from Albedo's outburst earlier responded, "Y-Yes. I can."

"Good. Albedo, what about Nazarick's resources? Lord Tri'ade seemed concerned with them."

"I would have to do a full inventory for precise figures but the treasury is overflowing with treasure and we have large ingredient stockpiles the last time I checked. But..."

"Yes, I see what our Lord meant. We may have a surplus of resources now but if we are in a new reality, replenishing them is likely going to be very difficult if not impossible. If we come into sustained conflict our strength will be slowly chipped away at. A death by a thousand cuts."

Shalltear Bloodfallen yelled out in a defiant voice, "Then we shall take the resources of this world! To sustain the glory of Nazarick and my beloved Lord Tri'ade! Anyone who tries to stop us dies."

Aura piped up in a mocking tone, "Stupid! We don't even know who inhabits this world! Besides, our Lord wants us to remain hidden as long as possible. You wouldn't want to go against his wishes do you, fake tits?"

"Shut it elf! I didn't mean it like that. Of course, I would never dream of defying my beloved's wishes!"

Demiurge intervened before this got out of hand, "Enough, you two. You are both right. There may come a time where Shalltear's method will be needed but not now. I will come up with intelligence gathering teams with you, Aura, being among them for our Lord to approve of later."

He looked at Albedo, the Guardian Overseer. While he was in charge of Nazarick's security during a crisis his master did not officially declare it as one. Demiurge was trying to respect Albedo's position as Captain of the Guardians as he proceeded.

"As for now, Albedo, I recommend that I send my Demon Generals to assist Shalltear in the defense of the first floor of Nazarick. As well as Mare getting started on the concealment work."

"You may all proceed. Cocytus, Aura, and Mare keep vigilant on the 5th and 6th floors. I will begin an audit of our resources and our defense systems as well as seeing what sort of perimeter warning system we can establish."

Sebas Tian bowed to Albedo, "For myself, I will head to his chambers to serve him as I can and to see that he is not disturbed. Regarding the perimeter, our lord left a group of Shadow Demons to patrol for now to keep an eye out for intruders."

"As expected of our most wise and benevolent Master! The man I love! He is already two steps ahead of us! We must move quickly to not disappoint him. Sebas, you must inform me immediately if he calls for me personally. I will rush to his side no matter the sacrifice!"

Albedo continued to ramble on regarding what she would do to prepare herself for the Master's bedchamber.

Shalltear Bloodfallen looked on at Albedo with clear jealousy. The Master had picked Albedo as his first wife so her position was clear but that didn't stop her from trying to get the Master's attention, "And if the Master tires of his old hag of a wife he can always count on me to satisfy him!"

"You made yourself clear. If you'll excuse me I will take my leave."

This sparked an immediate tirade of insults and debate among the two women while the other Guardians went to their assigned tasks. The first day of Nazarick in the New World was coming to an end.

Tri'ade was sitting at his desk in his office on the 9th floor of Nazarick. It was the office of the Guild Master of Ainz Ooal Gown and a place he thought suitable to conduct the business of ruling Nazarick. After resting and eating breakfast in his quarters he decided it was well past time to get to work.

Albedo and Demiurge had just entered the room and moved to stand before him. "Albedo, Demiurge, what news do you have for me?"

Albedo spoke first as her rank of Guardian Overseer which Demiurge respected by being quiet. "I have started an audit of the treasury and other resources of Nazarick . However, given the size of the treasury and our stockpiles, it will likely take quite some time."

"Good. Inform me when it is completed. In the meantime try to limit expenses in the maintenance costs for running Nazarick. Nothing too strict for now. Hopefully, we can ease them once we find new sources of revenue."

"Demiurge?"

"I followed your example with Sebas and the Shadow Demons earlier and formed small groups to fan out in search of civilization."

"Shadow Demons are mercenary monsters are they not? How many did you make for this?"

"32 and I split them into eight teams of four operating in pairs. They keep in regular contact with each other to avoid a team getting wiped out and us not knowing it. As soon as we get a better threat assessment of the locals I decided to err on the side of caution."

"A necessary expense. We can have them operate in smaller groups for reconnaissance later on if the situation changes. Good call, Demiurge."

"I am undeserving of your glorious praise, I live to serve."

"Hmm, what have they found thus far? I hope it isn't more grasslands. It would be a pain if this planet consisted of nothing else."

"Thankfully, the Shadow Demons have found signs of some roads to the southeast and a large expansive forest to the west of the Great Tomb. They are currently following the roadways to find where they might lead to."

Demiurge continued on for a bit with the Shadow Demon's field report but he wasn't really listening to him, being distracted by his own thoughts.

 _Good, it's no cliche mono-terrain planet. Too many desert planets in fiction, Dune, and Tatooine to name two. Huh, if the multiverse is real does that mean the Star Wars Universe exist? Kinda redefines the word fiction. Let us hope we haven't arrived in a 40k-like reality._

"If they find any cities or towns inform them not to enter them. We do not know the level of sophistication these natives have, not to mention their ability to detect us. I want to oversee the matters of first contact with natives personally. It goes without saying any conflict is to be avoided."

"Wise decision my Lord. I will inform them of your will."

"Regarding the forest, I want Aura to oversee the Shadow Demon teams deployed there. Her abilities as a ranger and her beasts would be invaluable there. I want any threats and beasts identified in that forest. There may be native settlements within or around it as well."

"Understood."

Albedo bowed, "Then that is it, Master. There is nothing more to discuss from the daily report."

"Good. Before the two of you leave I have prepared something special for you."

Tri'ade reached into his inventory to pull out two Ring's of Ainz Ooal Gown and had them in the palm of his hand."As leaders of Nazarick, you should have these. "

Demiurge looked in awe at the rings being presented. "My Lord, I can hardly believe I am worthy of such a magnificent gift. To bestow a ring which was only meant for our creators."

Albedo quivered in anticipation, "I agree! Your magnanimity and generosity knows no bounds, my love."

Tri'ade sighed. _They are making such a big deal out of this. It's simply a tool…_

"Do not mistake me. I am giving you these rings so you may use them to serve Nazarick more efficiently. You have done little yet to earn a reward. The time you save using these rings is time spent pursuing your duties. Continue to serve well and you will have earned these. "

They both took the rings and genuflected before him. Demiurge then stated, "Then we will work harder to reach your expectations, my Lord."

They both left his offices though Tri'ade could swear he heard Albedo from the other side of the door screaming, "YES!"

Ignoring it, Tri'ade used his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport down to the 5th Floor of Nazarick.

He was there to meet Cocytus the Guardian of the Fifth Floor and he teleported near Snowball Earth, his home. It was white dome like structure looking similar to an overturned vespiary. Surrounding it were six large crystalline structures.

Tri'ade noticed the floor's usual area affect penalty of slowing and ice-based damage was absent. Albedo must have turned it off even before meeting with him to reduce maintenance costs. _Looks like I didn't need to tell her anything. She must have figured it out on her own. I might be underestimating her because of her lovey-dovey act towards me._

After a momentary hesitation, he knocked upon the doors of the Snowball Earth. A black-haired maiden in a white kimono opened the door.

She looked almost human however her skin tone was a bluish white which betrayed her true nature. This was one of the Frozen Virgins, level eighty-two monsters who acted as Cocytus' bodyguards. They were modeled after the Japanese legends of Snow Women. The Frozen Virgin bowed before Tri'ade after realizing who he was. "Lord Tri'ade."

"I have come to see Cocytus. Please inform him of my arrival."

"At once, my Lord."

The Frozen Virgin floated off up the stairs her dainty feet never touching the frozen ground. Tri'ade waited near the entrance for a while until he saw Cocytus come down the stairway. When Cocytus reached about eight feet away from him he genuflected on the ground.

"My. Lord. Tri'ade. You. Need. Not. Come. Here. I. Should. Come. To. You. How. May. I. Serve?

"Rise, Cocytus. I came here for a purpose. I wish to spar with you. I fear my skills in close quarters combat have gotten rusty."

* * *

 **Outskirts of Brook Village**

 _The day after Nazarick's Arrival_

In the distance, one could see a village set aflame. If one was there you would then smell the scent of burning flesh and blood in the air. Looking from afar at this carnage was a group of robed men who all wore half cloaks (cloaks which only came down to their waist).

A short blond haired man with a distinctive scar over his left cheek was at the center of the group. This was Nigun Grid Luin, Captain of the Sunlight Scripture, a covert military arm of the Slane Theocracy.

Nigun turned his head to another of his robed associates who was walking toward the group from the razed village. This man was Vice-Captain Arthur Oreio Partouche who was a young man with a head full of brown hair and blue eyes.

While everyone here was a magic user proficient in tier three magic, only Vice-Captain Arthur and Captain Nigun could cast tier four spells. This reason, along with the fact he was a nephew of the Cardinal of Wind, secured his position as Vice-Captain of the Sunlight Scripture.

"Vice-Captain Partouche. Report how many villagers survived."

"Only two score survived. The rest were butchered by Belius's men."

"That ought to be enough for our purposes."

Arthur winced at his Captain's callousness. They were butchering countless villagers and for what? To lure out one man to kill? A man who would compromise his own safety for the lives of these villagers. A Hero among humans, in other words. While Arthur was still loyal to the Theocracy, he had reservations about this mission.

While the more veteran members of the Sunlight Scripture didn't share his concerns the newer members did. Many of them had gotten out of training thinking they were doing the Gods' work of protecting humanity from the threat of demi-humans. It was only the veterans who had grown numb to the necessary cruelty of their work that didn't have a problem with this mission. It was good then that Captain Bellus and his group of Theocracy soldiers were doing most of the work in razing the villages.

They were disguised as Baharuth Imperial Knights to throw the suspicion off the Theocracy. If people learned of the Sunlight Scripture's actions here even their own citizens back home would rise up in protest, let alone the political implications. While the Re-Estize Kingdom was in no position to retaliate, the Baharuth Empire was more likely to show their displeasure in being framed for the massacres.

Captain Nigun, knowing his subordinates reservations, spoke up. "Those men and women were necessary sacrifices for the will of the Gods to be fulfilled. Remember we are doing God's work, the Pontifex Maximus himself authorized this mission, take heart in that."

"I know... I know, Captain. It's just... I came from meeting with Captain Belius. He was in the process of raping one of the women he had captured. Said he had to make the sacking of the village convincing. Sinful lecher."

"That man... she didn't see you by chance?"

"No, he slit her throat afterward."

"Ah... Well, I will report Captain Belius's behavior to the Cardinals once our mission is complete but I doubt he will face serious reprimand. This world is cruel, Vice-Captain and you will need to grow accustomed to it to survive."

"Understood, Captain."

Like the Captain, he also doubted Belius' immoral behavior would be seriously punished. It was not uncommon during wartime for soldiers to plunder valuables and women's virtue. There was also his wealthy family to consider back home which unfortunately carried a lot of clout with them. The Theocracy was not immune to corruption though they did keep a tighter lid on it than the debauchery the Kingdom's nobles were capable of.

Arthur looked back on the ruins of the village as the Sunlight Scripture began to move onward to the next village being targeted. The Vice-Captain of the Sunlight Scripture sincerely prayed that this was truly the will of the Gods. That these human villagers had died for a greater divine purpose. If not what did that make them other than monsters in human form?

* * *

 **Throne Room of Nazarick**

Much later in the day after his sparring session with Cocytus, Tri'ade was in the Throne Room with Albedo. He was carrying some strangely opulent rod. It was golden with magical runes etched onto it. Albedo leaned in towards her Lord Husband.

"My Lord I must object to this. Even if they agree to serve we cannot ensure they will be loyal to Nazarick. "

"True. While we can mitigate the danger, that concern will remain. However, they should be far cheaper to field than mercenary monsters... It is worth experimenting with."

He was going to try to recruit some new servants using the Planar Ally spell. This spell was notable in the fact it summoned a permanent Outsider Ally. However, it had several drawbacks. One was that it cost experience to cast and second you needed to persuade the summoned creature to serve you and stay with you. Last of all the strength of the outsider summoned depended on the spell level rather than caster level.

Most didn't use it because the prospect of a permanent ally which didn't grow stronger with you and who was not mindlessly loyal was not that appealing. Role-players tended to favor it though.

The rod that Tri'ade was carrying was a Rod of Excellent Magic. It was an epic-class magical item which could be used in spells to substitute the experience needed for spells up to a certain point per day. While the power of the rod was not enough to mitigate the exp requirements for such spells like Wish Upon a Star it did help with casting lower tier magic which had EXP requirements. Such rods were expensive pieces of equipment. They required the services of a high lvl specialized craftsman and a substantial sacrifice of EXP and gold on his part to produce.

Sixteen Nazarick Old Guarders stood at the foot of the steps to the Throne facing each other in squads of eight. They were there should the creature being summoned prove hostile. While the creatures he plans on summoning were not of particularly high-level, Albedo was not equipped for combat and she insisted on the armed security for this.

Seeing no reason to linger on this he began casting the spell in-between the rows of Old Guarders on the red carpet leading to the Throne of Kings.

"「Planar Ally Succubus」"

A magical gate appeared on the floor and up rose a woman. This woman looked somewhat like Albedo, voluptuous and black haired, she had horns that curved upward. However the similarity ended there this woman had red bat-like wings unlike Albedo's, and she was wearing a very revealing leather bikini.

"Who summons me?"

Tri'ade let his Command Mantra ability radiate in his voice as he said in a calm and commanding voice, "I have. I am Tri'ade Lord of Nazarick and I wish for your services"

Upon looking at Tri'ade on the Throne of Kings and hearing his reply the succubus genuflected to him. She showed him her ample cleavage and smiled seductively while doing so. One could see a hint of jealousy from Albedo with her eyes glaring at the summoned Succubus, "I am yours to command, Lord Tri'ade. Do with me as you wish."

Hearing the Succubus's reply confused Tri'ade and he tilted his head to the side. _Strange isn't she supposed to ask for payment of some sort? That's how the spell normally works…_

"No haggling on terms?"

"Normally I would Lord if some mortal summoned me. But you are no mere mortal. I sense in you a most magnificent power and authority that is incomparable. Even my former Lord could not compare himself to you. I would only ask for the mercy of keeping my life. I do not wish to die."

Albedo's temper flared up regarding this, "You should be overjoyed at the privilege of dying for a Supreme Being!"

"Be at ease my darling. She asks for little." Upon hearing Tri'ade call her darling, Albedo's mood quickly changed. Her face flushed red and she began to swoon.

"Of course, my beloved."

Tri'ade turned his gaze back to the Succubus he summoned, "I have no need for you to perform overtly dangerous tasks, merely to do what a Succubus does best. Tell me do you have the ability to shape change?"

"Of course, my Lord. It would be difficult to seduce mortals with my demonic features visible."

"Then you can be of use to me as an infiltrator. For you see I have recently arrived in this mortal world and know little of it. I will have a need for servants which can pass themselves off as one of the native inhabitants. "

"Will have a need?"

"Perceptive. Good. I summoned you to see If I could in this New World. I do not have a pressing need for infiltrators now but will in the future. You can leave this world if you wish. I would ask for your name though if you wish to be summoned again."

"I am called Iriness my lord. Though I do not wish to leave your service yet. Should you have anything you desire of me please call upon me."

"Is that so?"

Pointing to Albedo, Tri'ade said "This is my dear wife and Guardian Overseer, Albedo. She will be your supervisor while you are in Nazarick. You will obey her as you would me and she will arrange for lodging for you during your stay here."

For her part Albedo had a slightly wicked grin on her face at hearing that she would preside over the other succubus. Iriness grew a bit pale as she began realizing her mistake in trying to seduce her new Master. Tri'ade after that summoned two other succubi named Lilrelle and Xentia to see if he could have multiple servants summoned at once using the spell. Like Iriness, they pledged their service to him in much the same way.

To further experiment the limits of the spell Tri'ade tried summoning a lower tier angel. However, unlike the Succubi, the angel proved far more stubborn in its refusal to work with him. For Tri'ade's part, he didn't have a convincing argument prepared for the services of an angelic warrior. He was merely seeing if angels would work with him as readily as the succubi did.

The angel later did acquiesce to provide his services to him for a time but at the price of a sizable amount of gold. On top of this, it demanded the condition to be able to refuse any outrageously evil order Tri'ade might ask of it. Due to Tri'ade not really needing the services of the angel at this time, he dismissed it and the angel vanished to whence it came.

Unlike using Summon Angel which seemed to dominate the minds of the angels, it appeared it would be more difficult to summon angelic with [Planar Ally] due to his negative karma. In fact, the angel likely didn't immediately attack him because it sensed the difference in their relative strength. Trying to summon a higher tier like a Seraphim would likely result in a confrontation unless he took precautions to deter it from doing so.

Demons for their part seemed eager to serve an Arch-Devil such as him. That said he was not so foolish to trust them completely. As insurance, he placed a Geas upon each of the newly arrived succubi to faithfully obey any instructions given to them and not to reveal anything of Nazarick to whom he did not approve of.

Geas was a tier six spell and was a means of coercion rather than mental domination. Should the recipient fail to resist the spell once it has been cast upon them they are forced to obey the conditions set by the caster. If they refuse they suffer the damaging and sickening effects of the Geas. For lower tier demons like the succubi, this would be quiet crippling. Geas in this way was essentially a form of curse however it could not be removed by the Remove Curse spell unless the caster is of a higher level than the one who cast it. Of course higher tier divine magic and super-tier magic could easily remove it.

It had a few drawbacks, however. Clever creatures could use the wording of the caster's order to their advantage. For as long as the literal meaning of the orders are followed the Geas will not take effect. Its duration was also not permanent and its duration depended on the level of the caster. For a level one hundred magic caster like Tri'ade, it would last a maximum of one hundred days after that period he would have to re-cast the geas upon the succubi if he wanted to keep it upon them. There was, of course, permanency metamagic to make spells like Geas permanent but they made casting the spell require a sizable amount of EXP to sacrifice. More EXP than his Rod of Excellent Magic could provide in a day.

Having concluded his experiment with the [Planar Ally] spell, Tri'ade dismissed his servants and retired to his personal chambers.

* * *

 **Author's Afterwords.**

This chapter was fairly hard to write but probably is understandable since this is my first fan-fiction. I have acquired a lot of deleted scenes from my editing and changed the story somewhat over the past couple of days. Originally I had wanted to skip to the events of Carne village and written most of the scenes involving Tri'ade's time there first. But then I realized the attack happened four days roughly after Nazarick had arrived in the New World. In the original Overlord, they kinda skipped all the events at Nazarick for this period. Sort of in a way for readers to feel, I guess, that Momonga had a suitable period of adjustment to the situation he found himself in.

When I began to seriously think about what Tri'ade would do for three whole days, the thought nagged at me. What exactly would he do for all that time? Momonga for his part seemed to be slow acting despite not needing to eat or sleep. He only tried to wield a sword and ventured outside on the 3rd day of his arrival. Momonga used the Mirror of Remote viewing on the 4th day. What exactly was he doing for the first two days?

I resolved the quandary in my head rationalizing that Momonga suffers a form of light depression unaffected by his emotional suppression. That he stayed in his room moping or conducting minor experiments to keep his mind off things. Hell, his character of Momon was just an excuse to get away from Nazarick and escape from his role as Leader. Ainz didn't really come into his own as a Leader until much later in the series, possibly as a reaction to needing to kill Shalltear.

The character Tri'ade in this way is fundamentally different I guess. He is less stuck in the past than Momonga is and is frankly excited about the possibilities of this new situation he has found himself in. As many of us would be I would think after the initial shock wore off.

Though this might just be a problem with me finding my story's pacing. After all, in the Light Novels, there can be month long gaps in the timeline, where we the reader don't know what's happening to Ainz and the other characters. Good news though, I have written a lot of other scenes and material so chapter 2 and 3 will likely come sooner than ya'll expect but probably not as soon as you like.

Oh... and lastly, yes, I am using various reference material for this story. Overlord Wikipedia only has so much, so helping to fill in gaps I am using DnD information and trying to adapt it with what I know of Overlord's setting.

*I am, however, taking donations to pay for a new set of whips and chains with which to control a certain senile old perverted Proofreader who was lured into my trap by my use of a certain Vampire Loli as bait. PM if you wish to donate.*


	3. Volume 1: Chapter 2: Here Be Monsters

_**Volume 1: Arrival, Chapter 2: Here be Monsters**_

 _*edited and Proofread by PervySageChuck 12/26/2018*_

Tri'ade walked up the staircase to the 1st floor of Nazarick with Albedo decked out in full armored plate.

"My Lord. I still believe we should bring a more sizable escort along."

"Nonsense. It would defeat the purpose of visiting them. If we came in force they would assume we are hostile. I am not bringing in a small army for the first contact with the natives."

Both of them reached the entrance leading out of the building in the middle of the graveyard on the 1st floor. The Pleiades Six Stars in the graveyard waiting for them.

"Besides we'll be able to call upon the Pleiades on a moment's notice. It will be fine."

Tri'ade walked over to Sebas Tian who was leading the Pleiades. "Apologies for making you all wait here. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable."

Sebas and the Pleiades bowed, "It is no trouble, my lord. It is our pleasure to serve."

Aura and the teams of Shadow Demons she was in charge of found some interesting information while scouting out the Forest west of Nazarick. Apparently, according to the local goblins Aura had captured, the entirety of the Forest was controlled by three great monsters.

They seemed to form some sort of primitive tribal society with the other monsters in the area and established respective territories within the Forest. At least, that is how it was suggested by the reports he read.

Tri'ade was intent on making the first contact with the Giant of the East which ruled the area of the forest closest to Nazarick. It was also a good excuse to get outside of Nazarick. With everything being done by his subordinates he was frankly getting bored and had difficulty finding something to do with his time.

This was also dangerous because it seemed the Succubi he had summoned the previous day convinced Albedo to be... more forward with her advances towards him. It was becoming more difficult with every idle moment to refuse her. The further she pushed, the less his fears of fathering a demon child meant to him. A child that could possibly one day try to usurp his position as Lord of Nazarick.

Ideally, he would not bring her along for this trip but his followers' concerns for his safety demanded he bring an escort along. Albedo with her expert skills and equipment excelled at tanking. So unless he brought a large escort Albedo was the only practical choice. So he could not dismiss the choice to bring her along without seeming completely arbitrary.

The Pleiades were also a means to compromise with his followers regarding the size of escort. They would stand ready and if they required assistance, Tri'ade would use magic and his ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to establish a Gate to their location. Essentially acting as both means of escape and access to immediate reinforcements should they need them.

"We will be going now."

Both he and Albedo stepped out of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Tri'ade saw the dummy hills and illusionary trees around Nazercik and the pristine grasslands beyond. It was the first time he was outside the Tomb since coming to this world. While he had suspected this world would be unpolluted, experiencing it was an entirely different thing.

 _The air is so fresh! No smog in sight. No dirty clouds in the sky._

It excited him to be here. He wanted to see and experience more of it so he focused on casting a mass fly spell for both himself and Albedo. Tri'ade raced off into the sky in the general direction of the Forest. Albedo hurried to catch up to him. It was exhilarating to feel the air swoosh past him and he felt like a damn superhero. Tri'ade twirled and looped through the air a couple of times. He was getting a bit giddy and smiled under his mask.

 _This is amazing! Simply amazing!_

It took Tri'ade quite a while to get over his euphoria and shake himself out of it. In the meantime, they reached the outskirts of the Forest. He tried to get himself back into a sober attitude when they landed.

 _Now. Enough for business. Need to watch out for enemies in the Forest._

Tri'ade looked back behind him to make sure Albedo was caught up to him. Seeing her there he thought about her earlier concerns of a large escort and how flying was stupid in hindsight. People could have seen him from miles away and Sniper-classes could have hit him with attacks from far away. Both of them began walking through the forest while Albedo took up a position alongside Tri'ade.

"Apologies Albedo for having us fly here. I know you worry about my safety."

"No apologies necessary, my love. Your desires are my command... It seemed like you were having fun."

"I-I liked the feeling of air rushing past me. I did tell you I used to puppet this body correct?"

Albedo gave a silent nod.

"Well, I never experienced the sense of feeling something through my puppet. I could only see through my puppet. So I am experiencing a lot of new things."

"Were the other Supreme Being like this as well? Did they also puppet their bodies from afar? "

"Yes. You could say we were essentially immortal in YGGDRASIL by doing it. Should our avatar's suffer permadeath we could simply create another one. There are always trade-offs for such things, however."

 _Granted the developers didn't know how to give Dive players sense of taste, feeling, etc. But she doesn't need to know that._

"The tradeoff being lack of feeling... So does that mean you are mortal now?"

Tri'ade pondered on that for a while before deciding on an answer before answering. "I suppose technically, and for all practical purposes, yes. I do have a body with an eternal lifespan, but I can die. Though that is unlikely given my strength and powers of healing. If resurrection magic still works the same in this world as it did in YGGDRASIL, you could also bring me back if you wished."

Albedo stopped walking for a moment and tensed up. She then grabbed Tri'ade left arm and the metal of both their armors clanged together. If she had done this in her usual attire her breasts would be pressing themselves into him but right now it was just the cold hard steel of her armor. "Of course I would bring you back! My Lord, my love, my reason for being. I cannot comprehend life without you!"

Tri'ade gently moved Albedo off of her tight grip on him and then held her hand into his own. "I know, I know. I am just saying while I might have become mortal the chances of me dying permanently are very low. You have nothing to worry about, you hear me?"

Albedo nodded and was silent for a while before they both continued on through the forest. It was then they heard something coming through the forest. When it came closer they saw it was Aura riding upon one of her beasts, Fenrir, a giant wolf.

"Hello, Aura. Ready to lead us to the Giant of the East's lair?"

"Of course, my Lord! Hop on. We can get there quickly on Fenrir."

Both Albedo and Tri'ade tried to get on Fenrir while Aura was on the beast however the positioning was very cramped and awkward. While the beast was certainly strong enough to carry the three of them there simply wasn't enough space.

"One of us will have to get off."

"Well, Fenrir's mine so get off, Albedo."

"But I wanted to ride with Lord Tri'ade!"

Tri'ade asked curiously."Albedo do you not have the ability to summon your own mount? Use it."

Albedo sighed at the order. She, after all, wanted to be closer to her husband on this trip. She then summoned her War-Bicorn Lord. Its a level one hundred mount which looked like a unicorn but black with two horns rather than one. When she tried to mount it however the horse began shuttering and began laying on the ground.

"What in the world is wrong with my mount?"

Realization began to come to Tri'ade as he remembered the vague details of the creature's lore. "Albedo, are you a virgin?"

Aura and Albedo gasped in surprise.

"But she's a succubus!"

"Of course I am! Who else would I be with besides my beloved!"

Tri'ade coughed uncomfortably, "Well, you can't ride a Bicorn then. As a dark subspecies of Unicorn, it embodies impurity. Maidens of pure virtue cannot ride them."

Albedo giggled."Can you then help me with my riding then, my love?"

Tri'ade shifted around uncomfortably and turned his head to Aura looking up to her on Fenrir. "Not the time and place. Besides Aura is here."

"Oh, she can leave and it can be quick my Lord."

The head of Tri'ade snapped back to Albedo. "No! My word is final!"

One could almost hear sniffling underneath Albedo's helmet. She remained wordless however out of deference to her lord but it was clear her feelings. It broke Tri'ades heart hearing Albedo like this because of him. One could almost visualize an arrow piercing Tri'ade's chest as he recoiled from it. He went over and hugged her. "We will have a long talk about this in my quarters when we get back home."

Albedo was quiet and her sniffling had stopped while she hugged Tri'ade back. "Okay."

"I should have invited you sooner. I am sorry."

"No, I am the one who should apologize my lord. I just wanted to be of service to you so much. I..."

Tri'ade put his finger in front of his face to shush her. "We'll talk of it later. Now how should we proceed?"

Aura then re-joined the conversation a bit perturbed at the scene that preceded her. "Well she can't ride Fenrir with us there's not enough space for her."

"I might have a solution. Albedo. Do not resist." Tri'ade raised his hand to Albedo and cast extended reduce person upon her. She reduced significantly in size to the point her head reached only to Tri'ade's waist. While her proportions remained the same she had the size of a child now.

He then lifted her up and Albedo was now sitting in his arms with her hands over his shoulders. Albedo giggled happily being brought so close to her love and grabbed onto Tri'ade's back for support. Aura began to look at Albedo with envy.

"Let's go, Aura. Onward to the Giant's lair!"

Snapping out of it, Aura pressed forward, "You heard him Fenrir, let's go!"

The odd assembly of two armed demons and a young crossdressing dark elf on a magical wolf sped through the forest. The beast Fenrir and his passengers came upon a large cave opening. As both Albedo and Tri'ade disembarked, the latter looked up at Aura.

"This is the home of the Giant of the East?"

"Yep, this is it, my Lord."

 _I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Giants in most settings are stupid primitives. Titans are basically civilized giants. I shouldn't have hoped for a Titan to be residing in a forest._

"Wait outside, Aura. Albedo and I will proceed inside."

It was a wide entrance and as they proceeded, they noticed the cave appeared to extend a fair distance into the earth on a gradual incline. They proceeded and they began smelling rotten flesh as well as other foul smells.

It was at that moment they entered an area of the cave where they came across three Ogres. Hulking creatures which were nearly ten feet tall. One could see the remains of their previous meals strewn across the cave.

 _Guards for the Giant, huh?_

Tri'ade raised his hands."We come in peace. Please take us to your leader, the Giant of the East."'

The three Ogre's came to look at the two. Two of them started to pick up their clubs.

"Oi! Pink Skins!"

"Bash em!"

Before Tri'ade and Albedo drew their weapons one of the Ogre's clubs managed to hit Albedo who stood between the ogre and Tri'ade. The impact bounced off her armor like it was made of foam. Tri'ade unsheathed his great-sword from his back.

When he drew it one could see the weapon had a blue aura and was quite bright. However, the color was not uniform across the blade, in spots bright white spots moved across the blade like it was the night sky. He called his weapon the Holy Moonlight Greatsword. Needless to say, it was not "The" Holy Moonlight Greatsword but one crafted inspired by the legendary blade.

This divine-class weapon sliced through the Ogres like a hot knife through butter. The three Ogres didn't even last three seconds against the two demonic entities attacking them.

"These guards of the Giant of the East were fairly weak. Did they even scratch your armor?"

"No, these insects' bites are nothing, my Lord."

He looked at the place he thought the Ogre's giant clubs landed on Albedo's armor and saw nothing, not even the tiniest scratch.

 _I guess that is just evidence of just how much more powerful we are to them. I had suspected as much considering we hunted Gods back in YGGDRASIL, but it's a different thing seeing it first hand._

It was then he began hearing a loud stomping sound emitting further in from the cave's depth. The sound grew louder until he saw what was causing it. A large, 12-foot tall large mountain of flesh. It had a gigantic head that seemed more like it was mounted on the top of his chest rather than being on any sort of neck. Two almost comically large teeth jutted out of his lower jaw and seemed to be a few inches away from his eyes. Tri'ade recognized the creature as some sort of troll rather than a giant but it was a type he was unfamiliar with. It also wielded a massive great-sword which seemed to drip some toxic looking substance. Three smaller looking trolls came into view following the Giant.

 _Are those some sort of Tusks? They're a bit short for Tusks but too large to be teeth..._

Before Tri'ade could get lost in his thoughts the Giant Troll spoke up, interrupting them. "You killed my Ogres. Your names now!"

"My name is Tri'ade, Lord of Nazarick and this is Albedo. We have come to discuss business with you, however, your Ogres attacked, forcing us to defend ourselves."

Guu pounding his chest."I am Guu. Can't believe long name Tree Aid Lord of Nazarick beat them. Black one named Albedo do it for you? "

Guu pointed at Albedo with his free hand and she fumed at this."Of course he did! He is a Supreme Being! Know your place, worm."

Guu took a step back from the blood-lust Albedo was showing. Tri'ade sighed at this petulant exchange.

"My name is not Tree Aid Lord of Nazarick it is just Tri'ade. Lord of Nazarick is a title. Like how here in the forest you are known as the Giant of the East. "

Guu scratched his head."Makes sense now. Why should I not kill you now?"

Tri'ade clapped his hands together and smiled under his mask as he heard the Troll ask this.

 _Previously I was thinking some sort of partnership but considering his primitive nature and weakness a master-servant relationship is better._

"You can try. I challenge you Giant of the East to a duel. I win, you and your subjects obey me. You win, you can do whatever you want with me."

"Ha! I accept! I kill you now and eat you!"

Guu began to swing his massive great-sword over his head into a mighty swing. Rather than meeting him blade to blade, Tri'ade decided to try to grab the blade instead. Normally he wouldn't do something so reckless but after seeing what the Ogres could do, he decided to risk it.

As Guu brought his blade down it was met with Tri'ade's armored gauntlet. Gauntlets, as anyone knows, have little to no armor in the palm of the hand. This is for articulation, so the blade should have had the least resistance there. Yet no blood flowed. Tri'ade didn't even feel much of an impact just the same amount as one would feel punching the palm of your fist.

 _This has got to be high tier physical nullification at work. No other explanation would make sense._

Guu tried in vain to pull his weapon back but Tri'ade locked it in place. Seeing this futility, Guu began trying to hammer Tri'ade's hand with the closed fist of his free one. "Trick! Trick! Trick!"

"It's no trick. I am simply that strong. Here, let me show you."

The gauntlet of Tri'ade's free hand began by punching the swinging arm of Guu. One could hear bones break and see blood being splattered. Guu groaned in pain and then Tri'ade began pummeling his face crushing it and leaving a bloody mess everywhere. The Giant Troll had since lost the grip of his weapon but Tri'ade kept holding the blade while his right hand went to work.

Guu was now laying down in a bloody mess on the floor of the Cave. However being a troll what would have killed other beings was slowly being healed. The Lord of Nazarick allowed Guu to do so and the Giant Troll had a look of horror on his newly forming face.

Tri'ade decided to get this over with and activated his Command Mantra ability which gave him power over the weak minded. "Guu, you will yield and recognize me as your Master. If you step out of line you will know my strength again."

The Giant Troll began genuflecting before him."Y-Yes Master. What would you have me do?"

"Enforce my will in your area of the forest. I will send my servants to you to inform you of it in time."

With that Tri'ade and Albedo left the foul smelling cave to meet Aura outside. From what little daylight that was visible in the sky, it seemed to be late midday.

"Well, the Giant of the East was a bit of a disappointment. He was not even a proper giant just a large troll. Aura you said there was a Serpent of the West?"

"Yes, my Lord. He seems to make his home in some wetlands on the western side of the forest with others."

That perked Tri'ade's interest. The Giant of the East was pitiful and reminded him of a small-minded brute. Perhaps this Serpent would be different. "Do you mean a village of some kind?"

"Ehh, I guess you could call it that. It is kinda small."

"Well, that is curious. Let's go I want to see this Serpent of the East before the day is over. Come Albedo."

As before, Tri'ade shrunk Albedo down to half her height and they rode off into the forest.

Meanwhile, back at Nazarick's 7th Floor, in a relatively calm part of the fiery pit of hell that was Demiurge's floor were three Succubi. This trio was Iriness, Lilrelle, and Xentia which Tri'ade had summoned previously.

"I still can't believe Lady Albedo has never visited the Master's chambers."

"I know right!? How does that happen? She is his wife after all."

"Her being a virgin was more surprising to me."

"Never met a succubus like her."

Xentia clapped her hands and said. "It was fun educating Lady Albedo was it not?"

"I did enjoy those orders."

Iriness rubbed her exposed ass cheeks. "I disagree. The Lady doesn't know how to restrain herself."

Lilrelle waved her off. "You deserve some soreness. After all, you tried to seduce the Master in front of Lady Albedo."

"I didn't know!"

Fenrir and the rest of the group roamed throughout the forest. Aura seemed to be listening to something then spoke up, "Lord Tri'ade. It seems the Serpent knows we are coming and set a trap for us."

The Shadow Demons that were under Aura's command must have relayed that to her. They, after all, were performing like forwarding scouts for the group. Tri'ade spoke up in a reassuring manner.

"Well, let both myself and Albedo off here. Aura you get yourself in a position to sneak up on the ambushers."

"I will deal with them for thinking of ambushing you, my Lord!"

"No. Do nothing until I signal you to do so. I want to talk to them first."

After Tri'ade began returning Albedo to her original size she said, "Are we walking into the trap on purpose?"

"Yes. If they're smart enough to ambush us, then they're smart enough to parley after they fail and their retreat is cut off. "

Aura's ears perked upon hearing this and she gave a salute. "Of course. You can count on me!"

Aura and Fenrir jumped out of sight into the forest beyond them. Tri'ade looking back at Albedo, then stated, "Come. Let's see what the Serpent has planned for us."

They both then proceeded on foot through the forest in the direction they were headed previously. After walking for a while they came to a small clearing.

When they came into the clearing a hail of arrows shot out from the underbrush around them and the arrows bounced harmlessly off both Tri'ade's and Abledo's armor. Then a swarm of spiders seemed to appear out of nowhere near their feet.

 _Swarm Monsters spell? That is a Tier two spell._

In response to this Tri'ade created a Wind Wall around both him and Albedo. The small spiders couldn't get past it and the arrows that previously were hitting them now we're being deflected off course.

After a while, the arrows stopped and Tri'ade spoke up, "I have come to speak with the so-called Serpent of the West. Reveal yourself!"

An aged Naga stepped out from the bushes. Yet he did not announce his presence. It was then Tri'ade noticed a thin magical shimmering around the Naga.

 _Is that some sort of spell?_

Tri'ade's bright red eyes stared straight into the Old Naga's and a look of surprise came across its face as he did so. The thin magical shimmering around the Old Naga dissipated. Nine other younger Naga appeared in sight wielding spears from out from behind the trees. They looked ready to support the Old Naga who was their apparent leader in combat.

"To think you survive so easily and see through my invisibility. You are no ordinary trespassers."

"Observant. Good. I am Lord Tri'ade of Nazarick and beside me is my companion Albedo. I have come to this forest to test the strength of its denizens and to see if any of you are worthy allies or subjects. "

"This old one is called Ryuraryūsu Supenia Ai Indarun. Test, you say? You came from the east did you find the giant known as Guu?"

"Yes, I found Guu. He lacked qualities I seek in an ally so he became a subject of mine."

The Old Naga took a step back in shock. "Guu and his band submitted to you?"

"Yes, I had to kill his guards and beat him to a pulp before he agreed. He would have been dead if not for his trollish regeneration."

"This old one understands. What qualities did Guu lack?"

"Frankly his home and lack of intellect were disappointing. Brutes are not worthy allies. Allies must be competent in mind to be trusted to provide an exchange of goods and services. Goods and services which benefit both of us."

"Yyou seek trade in this Forest? You are a strange one."

"That you find me strange does not surprise me. Regardless, are you going to have your youngsters stand down or do I have to butcher them?"

"For someone who is surrounded you speak confidently."

"You are mistaken, you are surrounded. Aura, Demons reveal yourselves!"

Aura with a smile jumped down from a tall tree branch behind the Old Naga and Shadow Demons appeared out of thin air behind the young Naga with spears.

The startled Naga looked behind themselves in shock and realized the position they were in. Ryuraryūsu ordered the others to drop their weapons then a clatter of spears impacted the forest floor as they obeyed. Tri'ade grinned under his mask.

"So Ryura. May I call you Ryura? Let us discuss business in your village. My demons tell me it is not far from here."

The Old Naga was still visibly shocked and one could see what looked like beads of sweat appearing on his brow.

"You may call this old one whatever you wish. We would be glad to welcome such a merciful lord to our humble village."

Tri'ade could sense the trepidation in Ryura's voice but that suited him. He bid Aura and the Shadow Demons to go back to conducting scouting around the perimeter. Soon enough, however, the Naga Village came into view.

The forest turned into wetlands so much that one could almost call it a proper swamp. Among it a few dozen wooden thatched huts sitting on wooden foundations could be seen. Between these slightly elevated housing were wooden bridges connecting them.

The party of the Old Naga and Tri'ade went to one of the wooden staircases which lead to the village proper. However, from what few openings could be seen in the huts, one could see eyes peering out at them.

 _Quaint little village. Not exactly the height of civilization but functional enough to be called a home._

Ryura dismissed the younger naga he brought along with the ambush and brought Tri'ade and Albedo to his home in the village. It was slightly bigger than the other wooden huts but it seemed to Tri'ade the old naga occupied a position akin to that of a chieftain of the Nagas in the village.

When they entered his home he noticed there were no chairs to be seen, only smoothly carved wooden stumps. Ryura curled his tail around one of them and rested the rest of his body on top. Tri'ade took one opposite of Ryura while Albedo continued to stand at the ready. Ryuraryūsu Supenia Ai Indarun spoke first.

"So what is it that you want of this old one?"

"Well, old one, as you may imagine with my command of demons I am not native to this world. So my wants are many. As you may understand, being a leader of your people, my wants are not only mine but my people's. "

"This old one's people are fairly humble and meager so I am unsure what we could provide."

"Well, my people have just come into this land so we are very unfamiliar with the properties of local plant life. As well as information on the surrounding area that at least you could provide easily enough."

"We could accommodate this much, yes."

"There is also the matter of control of this forest. From what I understand you three monsters have been contesting control of it for the longest time. I subjugated Guu, the Giant of the East, and came to you to change that. I wish to establish peace and cooperation between the more intelligent denizens of the Forest to better identify and exploit the natural resources of this place."

"Do you intend to make this old one your slave?"

"Willing servants and allies are better than slaves. So preferably not."

It was then a loud slithering noise could be heard from outside. Then popped in what appeared to be a female Naga with long black hair. Unlike the male Naga he had encountered, this one appeared to have some clothes on. A strip of cloth seemed to cover her breasts and she had a loincloth covering her hips. One thing standing out though was an amulet that hung around her neck depicting a snake eating itself.

As Tri'ade inspected her, it seemed for the female Nagas, the snake half of their body started lower in proportion to the males. Rather than at the waist, it seemed to only become snakelike at their thighs. The female Naga apparently noticed Tri'ade thorough gaze and moved back a bit. "Father, who are these outsiders you brought to our home?"

"Daughter, this is Lord Tri'ade and Albedo of Nazarick. They bested both the Giant of the East and fended off our ambush with ease."

Ryura's daughter visibly tensed up and her eyes widened at what her father's words meant. Tri'ade spoke next. " Mind if I know the name of the daughter of Ryuraryūsu?"

She did a deep bow and looked to the ground as she spoke, "This one is known as Sika Indarun."

"Rather a short name considering your father's."

Ryuraryūsu turned his head towards Tri'ade and spoke in a very calm manner. Probably trying to ease his daughter's concerns.

"A Naga's name grows as we age and in accomplishment. My daughter is still young but she is our village's priestess."

Tri'ade thought about this. Many old cultures had similar naming systems. Additional names acted similarly to later systems of titles. The Naga must add middle names for distinction. The fact Ryura called his daughter a priestess made him curious though.

"Really. Interesting what sort of god do you follow?"

"Ouroboros, the Great Serpent of Death and Renewal. By his grace, this one is blessed with the ability to renew our people's health at the price of the burden of seeing them to their final rest."

 _Interesting. Even the name is the same. I wonder if Ryura's magic is the same as the tier magic from YGGDRASIL. I might hardly be the first arrival to this world._

Ryura uncoiled himself from his stump and motioned to his daughter Sika.

"Now, our guests must be thirsty from their long trip to see us and what poor hosts would we be, daughter, if we do not offer them anything to drink? Please make some drinks for our guests."

Sika bowed to her father and nodded before heading off to another part of the wooden hut to grab what looked like a basket of fruits on her way there. Ryura went back to his stump.

"So, to pick up where we left off. You wish this old one and my people to be your servants?"

"Right. Considering you're aged wisdom and knowledge of this forest, I imagine you would be a suitable administrator for the area of the Forest we have taken. I may be powerful but such insight I am sure you have is more suited to that role."

"Generous of you taking territory by besting the rival of this old one and giving it to the old one. Still wishing to hear what you want."

"Nazarick at the moment has a large stockpile of food but it produces little and we may find ingredients and resources within this forest that we may need the use of. As my Administrator, I expect you to provide what we may request.

In exchange, Nazarick will support your control of the forest you are given authority over. Guu will be tasked to help you enforce order and help with security. In essence, he will become your subordinate. I will send a servant of mine to act as my emissary so you may reach me if you need further assistance."

"Your Lordship's demands are quite magnanimous for now but what if I cannot provide what you require? Regarding food, this old one's village at times has trouble feeding itself."

"That is another one of your duties. While my power may establish peace within the forest I expect you to organize and lead its denizens to greater productivity. While I can provide some assistance from time to time it is primarily your responsibility. Failure to uphold your obligations will result in your termination and another taking your place. "

Sika, at last, came with two wooden cups with what appeared to be freshly squeezed fruit juice of some sort. She handed them to both Tri'ade and Albedo but she didn't remove her helmet to drink it. She probably didn't wish to drink it unless ordered to so he let it be. Tri'ade nodded to Sika. "Thank you, Sika."

Out of curiosity he, however, brought the wooden cup to his lips below his mask to drink. Tri'ade could taste a very bitter flavor in it. He noticed then Sika fidgeting and sweating profusely while staring at Albedo who was just holding her drink.

It was then he realized Sika had likely put poison in their fruit drinks and that the bitter flavor was not the natural flavor. Of course, he had magic items which protected him against such things. To make sure, he cast [Detect Poison] silently on the remainder of his fruit juice and the magic confirmed his suspicions. "Old one, it seems your daughter has done something foolish."

Ryura looked at Tri'ade with worry and then to his daughter. Upon looking at her and thinking on it he appeared to realize what Sika had tried to do. He then genuflected before Tri'ade and said in a frightened tone, "Please forgive this old one's foolish daughter, she is still young."

Upon seeing her father in such a position, Sika followed in his footsteps and genuflected before Tri'ade. However, she seemed to have difficulty getting the words out of her mouth due to her fear and stammered, "P-P-Please forgive this one..."

Albedo, who did not seem aware exactly what Sika did, seemed pleased at the position of the Nagas before her master. If she was aware that Sika tried to kill Tri'ade with poison, then her fury would undoubtedly show itself. She then poured the contents of her cup on the floor and said: "It is right you ask for forgiveness for serving such a thing to a Supreme Being. "

Tri'ade thought for a moment on what to do. He then realized this would be the perfect excuse to gain a political hostage to ensure his new administrator's loyalty, "It can be forgiven. However, I must ask your daughter to become my guest at Nazarick."

Still kneeling down, one could almost see Sika's frightened expression with her father sharing it, "You're Lordship, this old one's daughter is one of our village's most talented priestesses. She will be needed here..."

"Then she should have acted with more wisdom. Your daughter can either work for forgiveness or die for it. Which is preferable?"

After a moment of silence, Sika lifted her head and looked at Tri'ade, "This one prefers to work to atone. Sika will go to this Nazarick."

Tri'ade offered a hand to Sika to help her up. She hesitated for a moment and then took it.

"That settles the matter then."

The red eyes of Tri'ade then settled on Ryura, "Now let us discuss other matters. I have some things I wish to ask."

Ryura and Tri'ade then talked at length with Tri'ade probing Ryura with questions of what he knew of this forest and the wider world. While the bits of the forest was interesting and informative such as its previous history of being home to Dark Elves and the demon tree, he was limited in his knowledge of the wider world.

When their discussion was done Tri'ade left the Naga's Village which he had learned was named Lotha with Sika Inderun.

It was late at night when they got back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Sika Inderun was assigned living quarters in one of the empty rooms on the 9th floor after some arguments with Albedo. She wanted her imprisoned in the Ice Prison on the 5th Floor but Tri'ade felt having Sika in a form of house arrest with guards outside her room was for the best.

After all, Ryura may want to visit his daughter he assumed and keeping her locked in an ice prison would be incredibly cruel for a race like the Naga. Tri'ade felt it would be the better long-term if Sika was treated more like a guest than a prisoner. Better that way to ensure Ryura's loyalty and Tri'ade thought Sika Inderun might potentially be her father's replacement one day if he died.

He then tried going to his room but was waylaid on his way by Demiurge who wanted to give him new reports from their scouts. The reports were relatively minor things like finding human travelers on the roads and he dismissed Demiurge after considering them for a bit.

Tri'ade then hurried towards his room. After all, he had to meet Albedo in his room and explain to her how his misgivings about being a parent were the reason he was being cold towards her. When he opened the door to his bedchamber he found a sight which stunned him.

Albedo was upon his bed in nothing but black skimpy underwear with her delectable rear lifted up at him. She looked upon him with her head turned towards him with her head on the bed sheets.

"Shall we have that talk now?"

Something completely snapped in his mind. Like a dam that had sprung a leak. All the times he held himself back, resisting Albedo's charms out of a paranoid fear, seemed distant and nonsensical. Tri'ade only said one word in response before he slammed the door shut and leaped onto the bed.

"No."

Soon enough, outside the room, one could only hear the sound of ecstasy, moaning and the like. In the hallway outside and some distance from the door, one could see Demiurge walking up. Upon hearing the sound as a sort of confirmation, the demon grinned and walked away.


	4. Volume 1: Chapter 3: Unfinished Business

_**Volume 1: Arrival, Chapter 3: Unfinished Business.**_

 _*Proofread by PervySageChuck 12/27/2018_

After a long and exhausting night of finally consummating his marriage with Albedo the very groggy Lord of Nazarick woke up. The bed the two shared reeked of sweat and of their shared scent. Tri'ade still aches in many parts of his body and his loins were still quite sticky and wet.

Turning his head to either side he could not see Albedo but it did not take long to hear a slurping noise. He could see a large lump in his bed-sheets moving around where his groin would be. A pleasant sensation that he had recently become very familiar with crawled up from there.

 _Jesus Christ! She's insatiable! Did she wake up first or did she never stop?_

The pleasant lump in Tri'ade bed-sheets began to move more vigorously and the sensation got more intense. He grunted in response and that seemed only to spur on the lump. _She became a true Suckubus last night!_

Tri'ade gripped the top of the bed-sheets and moaned as he convulsed in response to the pleasure he was experiencing. The lump stopped in response and began shifting toward Tri'ade's side as Albedo popped up from under the sheets. She then rested her free hand on Tri'ade's chest while the other was busy elsewhere.

"Good morning, my love."

"Good morning, darling."

Albedo giggled and said in a sultry tone. "Shall we continue where we left off?"

Tri'ade sighed and moved her hands from him."No. I am afraid we need to give the maids time to clean up and we both could use a bath."

"Good! Let's take a bath together."

"You can wash my back but we need a proper bath. Continuing while soaking in water will hurt."

The two of them got out of bed and went to the private baths in his suite. While Albedo stayed true to her husband's wishes in the bathtub she continued to tantalize him. So they spent more time in the bathroom than they needed to after they dried themselves off. But eventually, Tri'ade managed to pry himself away from Albedo and get both of them back into their clothes. He sent Albedo off to continue her duties as Guardian Overseer and he was finally alone.

Tri'ade almost wanted to get breakfast after such a long night but with his ring of sustenance on it felt more gluttonous than an actual need to do so. He fiddled with the ring on his finger. _The only reason I got this really was the lack of need to breathe and the two hour rest time required to fully rest rather than eight._

Still, Tri'ade found himself wishing to sleep or rest in bed more often than he did when he was playing YGGDRASIL. He thought it at first it was the stress but then it dawned on him it might have been his past life seeping into his new life.

He was quite the lethargic individual back on Earth. Always fought against his own lazy nature and besides video games, he had difficulty caring about much else. That wasn't to say he was not hard working. His employers always liked it that he was always on time and the effort he put into his work. But he always had a different mindset at work than when he was at home. He maintained a very clean work-space and appearance at work because it was expected of him rather than due to any personal motivations.

"I really do need to set goals for myself or I might spend way too much time in my room. Speaking of that, what should I do today?"

Tri'ade thought on this for awhile. He still had the Beast of the South to contend with but the day was still young. Then he remembered Siska Inberun was in one of the empty rooms of the 9th floor he was on.

The only thing that was decided yesterday was that she was going to be under a form of house arrest but considering the indefinite nature of her stay that would likely be very mind-numbing and boring for her. A person confined with no one to talk to for a long time was considered a form of torture so he decided to check up on her.

Siska Inderun had difficulty sleeping in her new quarters. It was not that they were inadequate, quite the opposite, they were unbelievably good. For someone who has known bedding that was more like a nest of dried grass and ragged sheets the bed, it was completely alien to her with its use of pure silk.

She was also uneasy about her future in this place called Nazarick. Siska had encountered many undead and unbelievable strong monsters like demons on her way to her new quarters. It was even more troubling when she could see in the eyes of those who had them an utter disdain for her.

Uncertainty also plagued her mind. She was told she was here to serve Lord Tri'ade in Nazarick yet no one told her what that entailed. Thinking on it her thoughts went to how Lord Tri'ade first looked so intently at her and how he might wish to use her body as a plaything. As a master of undeath and demons, she feared Tri'ade's plans for her would include more than just her virginity.

She cursed herself for trying to poison Tri'ade and the foolishness of it in hindsight. Of course, it would backfire. The poison would likely only weaken someone strong enough to defeat her father and the others so easily.

But her fear got the best of her and the nightmare she had the night prior only increased it. She had a dream of a gigantic snake eating her and the rest of her friends and family. When she saw her father with the people he had meant to ambush in their home she knew her nightmare had become real.

Siska was praying to Ouroboros for strength for the trials ahead when she heard a knocking at the door to her room. She got up and turned towards the door but before she could check who it was, a maid opened the door. Following the maid was a raven-haired demon dressed in a red robe with gold embroidery.

The demon spoke with an all too familiar voice. "I hope you are settling in alright, Siska. I know coming here might have been a shock to you."

Upon realizing that the demon was Lord Tri'ade she genuflected before him as quickly as she could, fearing she might offend him. "Yes, my lord. The quarters you have assigned this one are beyond my wildest imagination. Your hospitality and generosity knows no bounds."

Siska hoped she had mustered the right response and a chill of fear ran down her spine as she heard Lord Tri'ade chuckle. "Well, take this first lesson to heart, one should always be generous or merciless with one's enemies. It is imperative to decimate your enemies to render them unable to harm you or to befriend them so they lose the will to do so. Half measures like using simple poison only invite strife and suffering."

She couldn't stop herself from shaking from the tremendous aura she felt bearing down at her from Tri'ade. Then she felt a hand brush her cheek and raise her face to meet Tri'ade's. "If we were unwise, your father and I would have accepted your invitation for strife. I do hope we can put the past aside and become friends, Siska." With that, Tri'ade let go of her head and she dropped to the floor.

 _As if a Demon wants to prevent suffering! But my people can't fight a monster like him... generosity, befriending your enemies... Is he asking me to appease him, to satisfy him to not be harmed? Because I don't have the strength to destroy him._

"I-I understand, Lord Tri'ade. I hope for the same... What can I do for you?"

"Your primary job here Siska is to learn. Everything else is secondary. As your father likes to say, he is old and he will not live forever. I would like to groom you to secede him as an administrator someday. I will be sending you your first tutors soon but for now, try to get some rest you look exhausted."

With that, Lord Tri'ade turned his back to her and quickly left the room. Leaving Siska alone in her new room once again. She was still on the ground holding herself up with her arms flat on the ground.

 _So I am not just going to be some plaything for that demon but a tool. If I am not a tool that doesn't do its job I will be disposed of... no not just me the same goes for my father and the rest in the forest._

Siska was mentally exhausted and with her nerves still on edge, she arose and got into bed.

 _This bed is soft. So, so soft... I guess it is that demon's way of giving me a treat for good behavior. After all, I agreed to serve him in the end. Still, I am surprised he didn't ask me to...satisfy him immediately given how he looks at me... Maybe I am wrong about that? Or perhaps he thinks I can't yet._

Eventually, Siska simply gave up worrying because she was simply too tired to deal with it any longer.

Meanwhile, outside the room, Lord Tri'ade was walking down the hallway.

 _What in the hell was I doing in there? I came here to try to reassure that girl but all I did was scare her even more._

Tri'ade put his hand on his face and felt the demonic horns on his forehead.

 _I also enjoyed seeing her fear so I unleashed my demonic aura to make her quiver...That is the opposite of being generous. I need to be mindful of my impulses. I would apologize but given my position, that probably isn't wise._

He contacted Albedo to arrange for Siska to get her a Japanese tutor and Cocytus for weapons training. Tri'ade stressed to Cocytus that Siska was a novice and that she would need to cover the basics first. He was interested to see how strong the little priestess could become with training alone. After all, in YGGDRASIL, you got EXP from slaying things, not by doing a training regime.

Once again Albedo and Tri'ade went out of Nazarick to the Forest of Tob, this time to confront the so-called Beast of the South. Tri'ade was not under any delusions that this beast would be a useful ally after last time.

Still, he regarded it as unfinished business that may interfere with the new Administrator's duties of procurement and organizing the denizens of the forest. After all, the beast might rally the other forest dwellers against the Ryura and then Tri'ade would have to step in to knock some heads.

They met up with Aura and they lured the Beast of the South to them. What awaited him surprised him. A large hamster-like creature appeared before him after it tried and failed to attack with its snake-like tail.

"You are the Beast of the South? "

"Tis true that I am a mighty warrior! It is rare to find someone who can block my tail."

Tri'ade face palmed onto his mask. _Seriously? A Giant Hamster? Ugh, I wasted enough time on these Monsters of the Forest. The Serpent was the only one of any real value._

"Now let us battle to the death as nature intended!"

"No. As Lord of Nazarick I command you to OBEY AND BOW!"

He used the full force of his Command Mantra ability on the creature. It immediately dropped to its knees and bowed before him.

"W-what is this?"

"I am no mere warrior, you beast. I am the Lord of Nazarick and this is a fraction of my power. You will obey or you will lose your life."

Scared beyond belief the hamster cow-towed to Tri'ade and swore an oath of loyalty to Nazarick. Aura then became visible among the tree branches.

"Can I skin it? Its fur looks nice."

"No, an agreement has already been struck."

With a disappointing look on her face, Aura said: "Aw."

"That said, Aura, as Nazarick's Master of Beasts I will expect you to oversee... I never did get your name beast. Do you have one?"

The Hamster monster, still on the ground bowing said, "A human once called me the Wise King of the Forest. Besides that one I have none, my sire."

Scratching his chin, Tri'ade thought for a moment.

"Then I'll need to give you one... Hamsuke ought to do. You are to obey my servant Aura as you would me. You are under her care, understood?"

Hamsuke's desperately sincere acceptance of her situation was cut off by a noise in Tri'ade's ear. One of the Shadow Demons they had set up as their perimeter scouts had found something.

"My Lord, we have spotted four individuals close by. Humans. Two young females with what looks like knights behind them."

 _Humans here? Well lucky me! They might know where some actual cities are._

Turning to Aura who was positioned on a tree branch he said, "Aura there some humans nearby. Can you lead me to them?"

Using a two-fingered salute in reply, Aura stated, "You can count on me, my lord!" She then jumped onto Hamsuke's back startling the giant hamster a bit before Aura calmed it down and mushed Hamsuke forward. Both Tri'ade and Albedo followed behind.

They did not have to run for long until Tri'ade saw two young girls on the ground the older one clutching the younger one in her arms and the knight looming over them. He spotted the sword in the knight's hand bearing down on them.

"Flesh to Stone!"

The Knight's sword stopped mid-swing with his entire body turning into a stone statue. Tri'ade's party faced the two knights before them with Albedo on his right and Hamsuke/Aura on his left. The remaining knight tried to run but Hamsuke leaped in front of him. He tried to fight back swinging his sword but it seemed to bounce effortlessly off of Hamsuke's fur.

 _Surprisingly resilient but I guess it was considered a great beast for a reason. But considering they're weaker than Hamsuke, Command Mantra should work on these knights as well._

Trying it out Tri'ade used the ability, "Throw down your weapon and surrender knight!" Upon hearing the command the knight immediately obeyed, dropping his weapon and raising his hands in the air.

The oldest of the two girls looked up in wonder at Tri'ade and the others while the smaller one continued holding her big sister tight. Tri'ade could see what appeared to be blood stains on her back.

"Who are you, people?"

 _Oh right names... I can't really say I am the Lord of Nazarick if I want to keep it hidden from the humans._

The girls continued staring at him while he was thinking so he felt a bit rushed for an answer. "I am Tri'ade Nazarick, but introductions can wait. You are injured. Let me tend to it."

Tri'ade moved the still petrified in place knight off to the side out of the way and kneeled down to see the gash on her back. It looked to be a very long but shallow cut. The biggest worry she would have would be from blood loss. He decided to use a low tier healing spell to see if it was enough for the wound.

["Cure Light Wounds"]

Light spread forth from his hands and onto her wound, healing it completely. That surprised Tri'ade because he knew that was a first tier healing spell and he was half expecting only a partial recovery. That meant the cutting slash of that knight's sword must have been lower in damage potential than a first tier spell.

The older village girl had a look of wonder at her wounds being closed and she rubbed one of her hands. "Thank you! The pain is all gone as well. Are you a priest?"

"I am that and more. You are familiar with magic then?"

"One of my friends is an apothecary and knows a bit of magic."

"Good. Then I suppose full introductions are in order as you know I am Tri'ade Nazarick beside me is my dear Albedo, the beast is Hamsuke, and the one riding Hamsuke is Aura Bella Fiora our ranger. You two are?"

"Um, I am Enri Emmot and this is my sister Nemu."

The Knight with the raised hands in surrender said nervously. "Eh, do you want to know my name? "

Snapping back in disgust, Tri'ade responded. "No. Bastards like you don't deserve names."

The dejected knight sighed. However, Enri and Nemu bowed their heads and put their hands on the ground. They said one after another: "Thank you for saving us."

"Thank your good fortune we were in the area. Now, why were these men chasing you?"

The older sister Enri spoke eagerly, "These knights attacked our village! We ran into the forest trying to get away... Please, I beg you. Save our home!"

Albedo yelled at the girls making them visibly frightened. "You have no right to make demands of a Supreme Being!"

Issuing a sigh himself, Tri'ade put a hand on Albedo's shoulder to get her to calm down. "Dear, you mistook their request for a demand. Please Apologize."

Taken aback by this, Albedo responded to Tri'ade, "I am sorry, my Lord."

Pointing to Enri and Nemu Tri'ade continued, "No. To them. She meant no disrespect."

Awkwardly, Albedo bowed her head to the Emmott Sisters. "My apologies."

He clapped loudly to get everyone's attention "With that settled, of course we'll help. Aura, Hamsuke. Stay here to keep an eye on our prisoner and protect the girls for the time being. Albedo, let's go to the village."

"What should we do if the prisoner tries to escape?" Aura said from her seat on top of Hamsuke.

"Kill him." Tri'ade curtly responded sending shivers up the knight's spine.

Wasting no more time he cast a mass fly spell on himself and Albedo to quickly find the village somewhere in the distance. Looking at the situation from afar it was not good it seemed like the Knights forced most of the villagers in the center of the village. They were beginning to form around them.

"Not good. Too many of them and too close to the villagers. I'll get us some reinforcements"

Tri'ade decided to cast a summoning spell to help fend off the attacking knights.

 _Summoning Undead is often frowned upon in fictional societies. Angels seem an appropriate summon for mounting a rescue. Archangel Flame could work given the knight's low level._

"[Summoning Angel Ninth: Archangel Flame]"

Upon casting the tier nine spell a large group of twenty-two Archangels Flame rose up from portals. These angels looked like armored knights with white feathery wings armed with fiery long-swords.

Normally when using Summon Angel Ninth you would summon a single Seraphim Aesphere but you could summon more monsters from a lower tier using a higher tier spell. Archangels Flame, of course, were several rungs lower than a Seraphim Aesphere so numerous angels took the Seraphim's place.

"Archangels. Protect the villagers and kill the Knights attacking them."

The Archangels Flame soared up into the sky and raced towards the village. His summoned Archangels Flame then engaged the Knights. The numbers of Angels and Knights were roughly even from what he guessed with the Knights only having a slight advantage in that regard but the Angels were superior in their racial abilities and fiery long-swords. They were picking off the grounded Knights one by one using their ability of flight to their advantage.

"Like I thought these knights seem fairly low level. Perhaps level ten? What do you think, Albedo?"

"Humans are far too pathetic for me to discern between them who is stronger."

 _Does she have something against humans? But she does have a point. The difference between our strength is immense. It's hard to tell exactly what level they are._

"I've seen enough."

Tri'ade raised his voice to the surviving Knights below. He gave mental commands to his archangels to cease fighting and hover above the knights out of reach.

"Knights, lay down your arms and surrender! Or die by my angels."

It took a few moments but one knight's sword went clattering on the ground. The rest quickly followed suit. Tri'ade and Albedo, along with the Archangels descended near them. "Nice to meet you all. My name is Tri'ade Nazarick. "You knights are now my prisoners. No harm shall come to you should you continue to cooperate. Please form a group over there." He pointed to an empty area away from the villagers. Tri'ade's attention went back to the villagers " As for you good people, be at ease. This village is now under my protection."

The knights slowly assembled where Tri'ade indicated they should go. Commanding the archangels flame mentally he had them form a circle around the knights to guard them. Among the villagers, an older man with brown hair and a thick beard spoke up. "Pardon me, Sir. Why did you come here?"

"I was informed of your plight after encountering two girls from this village fleeing in the forest. Fortunately, I was in a position to help you. Such butchery is intolerable. These knights should be ashamed of themselves."

 _Not that I feel anything in particular for these knights. Each of them is just a potential source of information either from interrogation or experimentation._

The villagers continued looking at him with reservation. Tri'ade began to think his hero act was failing to reach them so he continued onto a different course.

"Of course I do expect to be rewarded for my efforts here today. Either by you or your Lord. It would be ungrateful of you not to do so."

The villagers bizarrely enough to Tri'ade, looked relieved to hear that he was expecting compensation for his efforts and not just there to save them. _They must be cynics. But I guess if I was a villager living in a world inhabited by monsters, I would be too._

As Tri'ade's angels continued to guard the prisoners he thought of something. _I don't know how long I need to hold them here. Nor do I know how long the summoning spell will last. I need to make something more permanent._

Walking over to the group of assembled knights he addressed them. "You will be held here until my business with this village is done. After that, you will be questioned. I suggest you reflect on your actions here today."

One of the Knights tried to speak but Tri'ade was already in the process of casting [Wall of Stone] that rose a large stone wall in front of him. Flying upwards to get an aerial view of things, he cast the spell three more times to fully encompass the knights and the archangel flame. Using his mental link he moved the angels above and away from the stone prison to give the prisoners more room. He then sent a few to grab the Knight prisoners he had with Aura and Hamsuke to drop them in the walled area.

 _That ought to do it. Even if my angels vanish they shouldn't cause any more trouble. Without weapons, I doubt those knights could even scratch the stone walls._

The villagers were staring up at him in amazement as he continued to drift down towards the village chief. The Chief invited him to his home to discuss matters and Tri'ade bade Albedo to wait outside.

The chief and his wife bought his story about being explorers from a foreign land which was technically true. However, they assumed he was a veteran adventurer from far away and Tri'ade didn't correct them. They told him about the lands surrounding Carne Village and about how they were in the Re-Estize Kingdom, along with a little about the neighboring Baharuth Empire and Slane Theocracy. More importantly, however, they told him about the nearby city of E-Rantel and the Adventurer's Guild. Both were critical pieces of information.

Tri'ade figured, given adventurer's profession to hunt monsters, that they would be an ideal cover to blend in with the native population. People expected monster hunters to be powerful individuals after all. Also, given their supposed neutral political stance he might be able to travel freely between the nearby nations and establish connections across them. A nearly perfect cover for gathering information about this world.

Their meeting was cut short, however. Other villagers had finished preparing funeral arrangements for those killed today. Tri'ade and Albedo followed the Chieftain and his wife to the procession. Looking at it Tri'ade got lost in his thoughts.

 _It's possible I could bring back all of these dead people using divine magic. Is it wrong of me not to do so? I haven't tested such magic yet I do not know if it would work. Besides what in the world would they do to repay me? They already had trouble paying me for earlier…_

 _These people would also be overawed at such a thing. Unless I plan to make a religion I should probably avoid such grand displays of divine magic. That would draw too much attention to me. I wouldn't want to end up like Jesus after all. Hmm, in retrospect summoning those angels might have been counterproductive but I didn't want to bother fighting those knights._

After the funeral, both of them headed back to the village proper. Tri'ade thought of the future.

 _Saving these folks will undoubtedly bolster my reputation among humans. These humans look remarkably like the humans from Midgard and Ryura's use of tier magic suggests Nazarick is hardly the first arrival to this world._

 _I should avoid massacring humans as most players would likely sympathize with them. I wouldn't want conflict between players. We are after all the only Earthlings in this world and they are key sources of information regarding what brought us here._

 _Also, a man with a reputation for great power will likely be sought out by many factions vying for influence. I need to decide what causes to join or if not make one of my own. Honestly, I could care less as long as Nazarick and its inhabitants are safe and prosperous._

 _That said, it might take a whole country's resources to ensure that. Huh, perhaps world conquest could be a goal... I always did like strategy games so that might be fun. I'd still need a casus belli, otherwise other nations would likely form a coalition against me. Hell, it might still happen if I take land too quickly like they did with Napoleon._

They stopped to allow one of the village workers to pass by them. The worker was cordial enough turning to say hello to Albedo but she merely looked away from him as he passed. That reminded Tri'ade of what Albedo said of humans earlier.

"Do you dislike humans?"

"What's to like about them? They are weak and pathetic. Just tiny insects that exist to be crushed underfoot."

 _Dangerous. Thinking back on her settings Tabula did make her enjoy bullying those whom she viewed as lesser. I need her to temper this._

"Albedo I do not think you realize how fortunate you are. You were made from the beginning to be as powerful as you ever can be. Unlike you, your creators and these humans are beings born weak and fragile. "

"What?! I can't imagine it being possible for a Supreme Being to be like that."

"Unlike you, our creations, we had to climb the stairs of power step by step. Forge our avatar's into instruments of magical and physical might. Hell, you might not know this but when Tabula created you he sacrificed a great deal of his power to do so. We had to help him regain it.

"I-I d-did not know...but what does that have to do with humans?"

Drawing closer to Albedo and taking her hands he continued. "Everything. Things which are naturally born always start off as weak with the potential to grow. With the right training and conditions, even these pathetic humans can become strong. After all, the majority of those who attacked Nazarick and were only stopped at the eighth floor were human. The same is true for our future children, my love."

Albedo rested her helmet on Tri'ades chest and he could hear how flustered she was with hushed panting coming from underneath her armor. It took her a moment to compose herself.

"Ah, I understand now, beloved. I shouldn't focus on despising them. After all, they were not blessed by the Supreme Beings. They are merely lowly pitiful creatures."

 _Eh? Well, that's good enough. As long as she doesn't want to bash their heads in it should be fine. I should encourage it._

"More than you know, my dear. These humans look like they are descendants of humans from Midgard. Others of my kin made them. If I had to guess, I'd say they were brought here like we were. Seeing the state of things, their creators are not here with them."

"They were abandoned..."

"In a strange new world, yes. As I said you are very fortunate."

As they began to continue walking they both saw a group of villagers gathered together with the Chief. They all had worried looks on their faces while they were talking to each other.

"This village is a real trouble spot."

Hastening their pace towards them the chief noticed their approach.

"Is something wrong?"

"Lord Tri'ade, thank goodness. I was just told there are soldiers coming to the village at breakneck speed."

 _It would look poorly on me if the village I had saved was destroyed soon after._

"I can handle this. Get the villagers to safety and meet me in the town square."

The chieftain and the rest of the villagers smiled in elated relief upon hearing this. "Yes of course."

This amused Tri'ade, who wondered what these people would do if they saw what lay beneath his mask. It was no matter. The surviving villagers were rounded up and taken to the Chieftain's house while they waited for the soldiers in the town square. What arrived surprised him.

The large group of warriors were without uniform sets of equipment, unlike the knights he had encountered earlier. Though they looked to be seasoned warriors at a glance and all were riding on horses.

The lead rider looked to be wearing some weird manner of half-plate armor but it looked strange to Tri'ade. The plate portions only really protected the torso, hips, and forearms and the armor underneath was nothing special, with him wearing only trousers and leather gloves. Normally with the half plate, you would use some chain-mail or at least hardened leather for the limbs.

 _I would say they look like bandits but their riding formation seems too tight for that. Well, uniform equipment standards were not established for most of human history. I should have been surprised the knights had such uniform equipment rather than these soldiers._

"I am the Chief Royal Warrior from the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. My King has ordered me to hunt down the knights attacking the surrounding area. We will do all we can to protect you."

"Thank you, Chief Warrior."

"Are you the Chief of this village? Who is this man standing beside you? He looks peculiar."

"This gentleman saved our village in defeating the knights who attacked us. He is..."

Stepping forward, Tri'ade interrupted the Chieftain. "I can introduce myself. A pleasure to meet you, Gazef Stronoff. I am Tri'ade Nazarick, a magic user who stumbled upon villagers fleeing the destruction here. I intervened after learning of the situation."

Gazef became visibly shocked at this, muttering under his breath. "What?" He then dismounted his horse in a quick well-rehearsed manner that impressed Tri'ade.

"These people would have been lost without you. Thank you, Sir Tri'ade."

One of Warrior Select came up to Gazef to report something. "Chief Warrior, we spotted a large group of unknown origin and they are surrounding the village as we speak. " Leading Tri'ade to think.

 _Two large groups approaching the village right after its been attacked? Impossible unless the second group planned for this and was following the group Gazef lead here._

"It seems like the masters of the knights I captured followed you here, Chief Warrior."

Turning around Gazef looked at him strangely. "You captured them?"

"Of course, I gave them the opportunity to surrender. They are secure for now but can't say it'll stay that way if they attack this village. We should learn more about this new group, should we not?"

A steely resolve came across Gazef Stronoff's face as he pressed forward. "Yes, we should. Please take me to the knights."

* * *

 **Afterword**

Another Sunday, another chapter is done. I have really gotten the hang of releasing new chapters every other Sunday. I like the fact that it gives me enough time to write upwards of 5-7 thousand words for a decent enough sized chapter for my liking. Originally I thought about making the Carne Village events all in one chapter but it would have ended up being like 12k words in the end and would have taken me longer to write. So, I decided to split it.

Let me know if these chapter sizes are what you like. I could probably increase updates if I halved the size of the typical chapter I write. I know these chapters are fairly big reads for Fanfiction standards. Also let me know if my grammar and pacing is to your liking. But it is my first time writing a fanfiction or, well, much at all really.

I might also try not to use beds and people being tired as a trope. It probably happened cause I tend to write a lot late in the night. I'll try to cut that out in later chapters once I get out of the day to day description of events that I felt the lead up to Carne Village required.

Some people might wonder why I included Carne village but there are two category of events in the Overlord Timeline that I consider. Things that are set in stone not affected by Nazarick's meddling and Nazarick's own actions from that. The former events, I frankly want to include no matter what the latter are is what I intend to mess with.

The battle of Carne's Village was gonna happen regardless of Nazarick's intervention but it probably would have had the village destroyed and Gazef killed because Gazef is a noble fool, but that didn't sit well with me. Same thing for the later E-Rantel Undead incident that is gonna happen later but not so much how soon they nab Nfirea to get that started. Still haven't decided exactly how that will play out yet but I am mulling over possible scenarios.

Considering the rodent Hamsuke is already acquired that whole latter forest bit with Swords of Darkness is blocked off. Leaving nothing of real note for the whole return to Carne's village. I am also debating Narberal Gamma's place beside Tri'ade in the whole adventuring/worker arch.

Thinking about possible replacements for Narberal Gamma: Solution at a glance looked good given her cold logic (easy to write for me) and levels in thief based classes to compliment Tri'ade's skills. She could be useful if I decide to make Tri'ade a worker (master assassin she is). But her skills as a bodyguard are horrible. (Things go through her so she can't even take a bullet for Tri'ade). Lupu is another cleric like Tri'ade so while she could interact with humans, she wouldn't really bring anything to the table party wise. The other Pleiades are somewhat low level or have skills unsuited for bodyguard work.

Ironically, Sebas Tian looks like a good choice as a bodyguard but that scraps a lot of character building scenes in the kingdom's capital and likely has Tuare die sad in a dark alley. Which feels like kicking a bag of drowning puppies... or killing Arche. So can't choose him unless I make plans to totally scrap and build completely from scratch most events in the kingdom part of the light novels. Which is possible.

Choosing Sebas also kinda makes the whole decision to make Tri'ade a worker as opposed to adventurer more difficult due to Sebas being an Angel on Tri'ade's shoulder, nudging him to do good. As opposed to the devilish Solution who likes making people suffer and is more amoral. (Anything to benefit Nazarick). Perhaps having both as Tri'ade's adventuring companions could be viable in such a capacity? Rather than the two of them being emblematic of my choice of adventurer/worker paths I could choose both? Blue Rose tends to ignore adventurer guild rules a lot so it may be possible to do that.

It is also possible to save Tuare regardless of Sebas reassignment if I decide to keep the Swords of Darkness alive in some capacity. Sebas is also complimented very well skill wise with Solution. But possible to have Narberal take up the position of bitch noble girl (A natural role for her) with Solution playing as the servant. So many possible alternative paths to consider.

Or I could be safe and have Narberal stay in her place as Tri'ade's companion. Her dialog is easy to write since she repeats herself so damn much and seems fairly one dimensional. Like you know traditional RPG npc's are. I might come across as not liking her but that is not true. I loved her killing Khajhit but as a character she can get tiring when not curb stomping "insects". She never seems to learn from her mistakes or evolve in the light novels. If I keep her as a companion, I would definitely have to try to change that. That or vent my frustrations about her stubborn attitude. I am sure some of you would like her getting "punished" in a variety of ways.

Anyways, I hope you lot had a good weekend. See you again in two weeks.

Pervy's note: I can suggest a large number of lewd and lascivious ways that Narberal could be "punished." First, you could...AAACCCKKK!

Enough of that, proofreading slave! ~A Vampire Bride, one of Magnus's servants, puts down a freshly bloodied baseball bat.~ The Master and his readers don't wish to hear any of your perverted nonsense. Back to work!


	5. Volume 1: Chapter 4: Angels and Demons

_**Volume 1: Arrival, Chapter 4: Angels and Demons**_

 _*Proofread by PervySageChuck 12/27/2018_

They came to the stone walls of the temporary prison Tri'ade had created using magic. The solid grey wall of stone towered over Gazef Stronoff and the men that accompanied him.

"How do we get into this?"

Looking at Gazef Stronoff was Tri'ade who was tilting his head a bit."We can fly over the wall. I didn't bother making a roof. Failing that I can break down the wall, but you would need your men to guard the prisoners after that."

"Why did you go to the effort of capturing these men in the first place?"

"Because I had the luxury of extending that mercy to them."

"Eh, I don't know if these knights deserve that."

"Well, a part of me was also curious as to why. Butchering everyone seems rather pointless at a glance. Ready to find out why?"

"Yes, I am."

Having cast fly on themselves only Tri'ade and Gazef flew over the top to meet with the prisoners. Once landed, Tri'ade started the interrogation.

"Is there any among you who speaks for your group?"

The frankly disheveled knights all looked to one of their own who, after noticing their attention, stepped forward. "I do. My name is Londes Di Clamp. Captain Belius died during the attack."

"Considering how your peers look to you I assume you are a veteran of this unit?"

After pausing to consider what to say, the knight nodded, "Yes sir."

With an angry look on his face, Gazef Stronoff asked the knight "Why did you attack this village and others like it?!"

The Knight held his tongue and avoided his gaze but Gazef Stronoff pressed forward until the two men were eye to eye. "Why?!"

Interrupting them both Tri'ade spoke up. "To draw Gazef Stronoff and his Warrior Select out. Destroying villages as bait." Shrugging over to the Knights "Am I right?"

Londes continued the silent treatment annoying both interrogators. Tri'ade decided to force him to talk using two spells.

["Zone of Truth!"] ["Telekinesis"]

The Knight called Londes Di Clamp rose up into the air while Tri'ade made a loose fist with his right hand.

"Now Londes you will tell us everything you know truthfully. Refuse to talk and I will tighten my grip to crush you. Oh, and after I do that I will heal you up to repeat the process. Now let us begin. Am I right?"

Struggling against the spell holding him in place and unable to lie, Londes relented. "You are right."

"Good Boy."

Staring with an awed look on his face, Gazef scratched his chin. "That makes some sense. The Empire would love to see me dead but it's hard to believe they would act so brazenly."

Smiling as he continued to hold the knight aloft Tri'ade confidently declared, "That is because they are not Imperial Knights. You are Theocracy soldiers, aren't you?"

This time Londes kept his mouth shut until that is Tri'ade tightened his grip. When he did Londes began screaming as his bones began to break as his body was slowly crushed. The knight was beginning to cough up blood as he floated closer over to his tormentor.

["Cure Moderate Wounds"]

Light engulfed Londes from Tri'ade's left hand as his bones reset and any internal bleeding stopped. Though he still looked winded from the screams of pain. The Knight floated away to his previous position.

"Now, I'll ask again. Theocracy Soldiers, yes or no?

With a fearful look in his eyes, Londes nodded. "Yes."

Turning over to Gazef Stronoff who had a bit of a dumbstruck look on his face at the proceedings Tri'ade asked him. "Any questions you wish to ask this false knight?"

Composing himself Gazef asked the Knight, "Why go so far to kill me? To kill so many innocent people to get at me."

Almost screaming this time the knight answered. "I do not know! We were following orders from his holiness."

The Knight was dropped onto the ground with a thud as Tri'ade looked to Gazef. "It's true. No one can tell a lie within a zone of truth. But if I would hazard a guess, it would be to undermine the Kingdom's strength and to foster continued hostiles with the Empire."

Shaking his head, the Warrior Chief of the Kingdom lamented, "Damn politics. We should go see to our other guests."

Agreeing with Gazef they both flew out of the confinements of the stone enclosure holding the false knights. They went to a position where they could get a visual contact with the men surrounding the village without being seen themselves. Fortunately, one of the outlying village houses was the perfect place for it. Awaiting their eyes were a row of robed men with an accompanying Archangel Flame.

"There is no mistaking it. Those fake knights were from the Theocracy. No one but them could send so many magic casters at once. One of their elite covert units, what they call Scriptures."

"As I thought. They must have been following you. You said other villages were destroyed. Why are they doing so much to kill you?"

Gazef shrugged his shoulders, all but openly grumbling about what a pain it was. His attitude was relaxed but to Tri'ade it seemed forced. "I suppose there's no helping it because of my position, but this is... a rather large problem. They did a great job using the nobles to take away my gear. If that snake of a noble had been sniffing around the court, things would probably have been worse, so I suppose I should count myself lucky that this was all that happened. Still, I never thought the Slane Theocracy would be after me... "

Tri'ade chuckled. "I doubt it's personal, Gazef. I can guess that your nobles wish for more power in relation to your King and the Slane Theocracy wishes the Kingdom as a whole to be weakened, so they're helping them. Say, who is the lord of these villages?"

"It's part of the King's personal demesne."

"Ah, that makes sense. So their killing two... no three birds with one stone by killing the villagers. They can use them as bait for you, kill possible witnesses and weaken the King all at the same time. Ruthless of them but if their goal is to weaken your King, it's effective."

"You sound like you almost respect that."

"Not really, but I was curious as to their motivations. What do you plan to do now?"

"I would like to hire you to start. Name your price and I will make sure you get it."

"My price?"

 _I do not know the relative value of things in this world! Besides these Scripture guys are a pain by threatening this place right after I just saved it!_

"They came prepared to kill you so I doubt you can survive without sacrificing the village."

"I have no intention of letting any more harm come to these people."

"Yes, the enemy knows this. You can't be expected to win a battle your ill-prepared for and can't retreat due to your noble intentions. You would need a miracle to win this battle. You're asking me to provide it for you?"

"I know I am asking for a lot."

 _Back to square one with this guy...Maybe a different approach._

"I'll provide a miracle for you on two conditions."

"Name them."

"Right of spoils including captives and any corpses of the Sunlight Scripture. You can keep the Theocracy soldiers I captured earlier but I want right of spoils on the Sunlight Scripture."

"What would you want with them?"

"I didn't come to this village intending to become an enemy of the Slane Theocracy. Preserved corpses or even captive members of their Scripture could be useful to...settle things with them."

"Okay. I am sure my King would be satisfied with that as long as we get the soldiers. Your second condition?"

Smiling and offering his hand to Gazef Stronoff he demanded. "I want you to be my friend regardless of what may happen."

Heartily laughing Gazef Stronoff took Tri'ade's outstretched hand with both of his. "I would be honored to call you a friend."

Chuckling to himself, Tri'ade could only say, "Sure, you say that now."

"We'll attack as soon as I've mobilized my men."

Dismissing that idea, Tri'ade waved his hand. "No. Someone needs to keep watch on the villagers and the false knights. Albedo and I will handle the Scripture."

"I can't expect you to fight on my behalf alone. Let me and some of my men come with you."

"I plan to use area effect magic to deal with them. Your men will be in the way. Just focus on protecting the village and preventing those prisoners from causing trouble." Tri'ade pounded against his chest plate armor with one of his fists "I am a dragon slayer. You need not worry."

 _And a god slayer, but he doesn't need to know that._

Both Tri'ade and Albedo walked out of the house when they got out of earshot of Gazef she spoke up.

"Why are we saving these humans for so little? I do not understand this right of spoils as the victor it would be your right to do what you pleased with the vanquished."

"True enough, but there are politics and perception to consider. They think of us as individuals. It is quite common for States to acquire prisoners but uncommon for individuals to do so. Also considering the actions this Scripture unit has committed against the Kingdom it would be fair of them to demand us to hand them over to the King. If only to be used as political bargaining chips or to be tried for crimes against the Kingdom. Having Gazef agree to this beforehand smooths things over politically in acquiring them for our own uses."

"I see. So you agreed to hand over the soldiers but not the Scripture members as a sort of compromise to appease the Kingdom. Still, why do we want to befriend these humans?"

"Humans might be weak individually, but it is this weakness that breeds one their greatest strengths. Humans often form complex societies to facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit. There is also their innate curiosity to consider. After all, in order to compensate for their shortcomings, they must learn quickly and to use knowledge to their advantage against stronger races. Combined with the former, this leads human societies to accumulate stores of knowledge and information that would be useful to us. These libraries often are assembled by the elite of human society such as royalty, you see?"

"So this is an opportunity to befriend the King and gain access to his library and gain a wealth of knowledge about this world."

"Among other benefits. The reason I kept the agreed price low and in vague terms such as friendship is due to my lack of knowledge of prices in this world. This will engender gratitude and respect for me that I can use later to ask for favors. If I ask for too much at this time where Gazef has no real option of saying no, it would simply embitter him towards me. Still enough chit chat. Let's see if we can find the Captain of this Scripture."

Albedo nodded and Tri'ade cast a circle of invisibility spell on both of them. This caused them both to vanish to anyone without the ability to see through the spell. With this and a spell to muffle any sound created by their movement, they inspected the line of Scripture members arrayed around the village. That is, until they came upon a man without a face mask on and a far larger Angel hovering above him. This one had a large shield and war-mace equipped that Tri'ade recognized as a Principality.

 _Obviously the leader of the unit. I could kill him right now to cause chaos in the ranks but if a Principality is the best angel they've got out I doubt they can even harm me._

Tri'ade, along with Albedo, moved to the center of the field outside of the village and canceled his invisibility spell to appear before the leader of the Scripture who flinched before asking, "Just who are you?"

"Hello Scripture. I am Tri'ade Nazarick. Beside me is Albedo. I am the one who defeated your knights and who now currently hold them prisoner in the village."

"Have you come to bargain for the lives of the villagers or just your own?"

"No. I have come to thwart your mission to kill the warrior, Gazef Stronoff and to offer you the chance of surrendering before we fight."

"You do not honestly expect me to surrender to a single magic caster and his bodyguard do you?"

"I do not but I felt it would be polite to offer. However, before we begin I must ask you a question. You have massacred hundreds of people for the sake of killing one man. I am curious. Do you think your gods are pleased with your actions?"

Nigun said in a mocking tone. "Of course! We are doing the will of the gods themselves."

Smiling under his mask Tri'ade replied, "Truly? Or are you following the orders of a man who claims himself to be the mouthpiece of the gods? If false, you are following the words of a blasphemer of the highest caliber. A mortal man who claims the authority of the gods by falsely claiming to be speaking for them."

Nigun began to fume and one could see the vein in his forehead as he pointed to Tri'ade and shouted, "Angels, attack this heretic!" Two Archangels of flame swooped in for an impaling charge against Tri'ade. For his part, Tri'ade did not move an inch and the archangels flaming swords seemed to pierce through his chest.

"Is that all you had? I expected more after all your talk."

Tri'ade didn't feel a thing. It was like the very fabric of his being moved atom by atom out of harm's way in the tiniest way possible to avoid the blades. Giving away to form two small holes in his chest cavity for the blades but not harming him in the slightest. It was like the parts of his body that would have been harmed by the blades had simply moved to a different dimension temporarily, still a part of his body but yet not there at the same time.

Tri'ade grabbed the angels by their heads and they struggled to get free. It was amusing to watch them squirm and it fascinated him the sheer power that was in his arms. He heard the reactions as the Sunlight Scripture began to realize what had just happened.

"impossible! It's a trick!"

"It has to be!"

"You mistake me for your own weak flesh. Your servants will not protect you from your fate."

With that Tir'ade crushed the angel's helmets beneath his gauntlets. One could hear bones being crushed and a blood spilled between his fingertips. With their armored helmets crumpling like tinfoil the angel's bodies fell to the ground before disappearing in a flash of glowing particles.

"Will you continue your resistance, mortal?"

Captain Nigun, looking desperate now motioned to his men and ordered, "Don't just stand there! Attack him! Hurry!"

The dozens of Archangel Flames in the air dived right towards Tri'ade in a large attack wave.

["FireStorm"]

A large wall of fire began to surround Tri'ade's body and rapidly spread outward. Upon Tri'ade's command, it parted away to spare Albedo but that hole closed as soon as it went past her. When the first angels impacted the expanding flames they were incinerated.

 _Probably a waste to use such high tier magic on this trash but with friendly fire enabled Firestorm is the only spell I know which can be so selective in it targets over such an area.'_

The flames stopped several feet away from the men of the Sunlight Scripture. Some of them had run back to try to escape the heat from the fire. What little vegetation on the ground near Tri'ade was burning and the very earth was scorched around him.

Nigun and the rest of his men including his vice-captain Arthur stood in awe and were breathless at what they had just witnessed. Many of them could not believe their eyes and those who were began to panic. They were starting to realize the hunters were becoming the hunted. That karma was indeed a bitch.

Many of them started throwing spell after spell against the focus of their growing fears. All of them impacted harmlessly upon a bubble-shaped magical barrier around Tri'ade. Seeing their ineffectual results, they tried an ever diverse number of spells hoping to penetrate it. Tri'ade believed he even heard a charm person and doom spells being used.

 _It seems much of the magic here is very similar to YGGDRASL's if not identical. That is disconcerting... That definitely enforces the possibility of others arriving here before me._

As he was mulling over this, one of the Sunlight Scripture members grabbed what looked to be a slingshot to attack him with. Tri'ade was not paying much attention so he didn't notice it until after the man's head exploded.

Albedo was then a few feet in front of him, weapon drawn and looking like she had just finished a swing of her weapon. It looked like Albedo had used a combination of her defensive abilities to defend against the sling's attack.

"Albedo, why did you do that? I did not give you my approval to kill these fools yet."

"I beg your pardon, Lord Tri'ade. But to throw pebbles at you is too insulting to you. Facing these vermin is a waste of your time. They should prove themselves against me before fighting you."

 _So I should act like an endgame boss? Wasteful. Too many game bosses could have settled things with the heroes by stepping in sooner. I am not falling for that cliched trope._

"If I wanted them dead they would be dead already. I have other plans for them."

The Sunlight Scripture was stunned into absolute silence at how casual Tri'ade and Albedo were while shrugging off their attacks. Nigun, their Captain for his part seemed to be clinging onto a scrap of hope as he issued the following command: "Principality of Observation, attack!"

 _Are they sending that? They must be getting desperate. Principalities are better in support roles._

The angel flew at Tri'ade and laid upon him a crushing blow which he caught in his left hand. The Principality tried to pull his mace back but Tri'ade's grip was too strong. The angel continued to try to pull back his mace while flapping its wings in futility.

"Did I not say your servants will not protect you? Resistance is futile."

He grabbed the shaft of the Angel's war-mace with his right hand and freed his left hand to crush the Principality's hand in its grip. The angel screamed in pain as it lost its hold on its weapon, allowing Tri'ade to wrest the weapon from it.

Tri'ade then swung the Angel's own weapon in a strike landing on the right side of its head. The Principality didn't have time enough to raise its shield and the strike hit home, resulting in the Angel's head flying clear off its shoulders. Defeated, the Principality dissipated in a cloud of glowing particles with its flying head appearing like a meteor burning up in the sky.

"Impossible! That was a Principality! How could you overwhelm an elite angel so easily?! What kind of a monster are you?! There is no way I could never have heard of you, Tri'ade Nazarick. What in the hell is your real name?!" Nigun had lost all composure at this point due to his inability to acknowledge the scene playing out before him. They were the elite of the Slane Theocracy, yet this magic caster they've never heard of was completely overwhelming them with hardly any effort.

There came through the silence of the situation a resounding laughter from Tri'ade. To Nigun and the rest of the Sunlight Scripture, the sight was deeply unnerving.

"Elite Angel? Is that what you think of the Principalities? They're more like captains in an army. Granted they're not a common soldier, but to call them elite is exaggerating their station. To get to your question though... It is no lie. I am Lord Tri'ade Nazarick. As to why you have not heard of me... Well, it is simple really. I have only recently arrived in this world."

"You are not of this world?"

"That is correct, mortal. Though before I forget I should reverse what my servant has done."

Tri'ade turned to the headless corpse of the Sunlight Scripture member killed by Albedo and began concentrating to cast a spell on the corpse. He was calling upon his clerical might to bring the man back from death using True Resurrection. It is a ninth tier magic spell in which you don't even need an existing corpse to bring back the dead only something to identify them within the afterlife. Thankfully, there was one before him now because he knew nothing about the man.

Another major benefit of this spell was it bypassed the exp drain loss normally associated with lower tier resurrection magic. So he wasn't afraid of the man turning into dust if the exp drain was too much for his weak body.

 _Let's hope this bloody works otherwise I'll look like a fool._

Light engulfed the man's body and when it faded he was standing once again with his head intact. He then wobbled around a bit and put his hands on his head."W-W-What j-just happened?"

Nigun fell to his knees with his mouth agape at the sight of his underling being casually brought back to life. Gasps could be heard from the rest of the Scripture. Of course, they knew of resurrection magic like [Raise Dead] but that spell drained the life essence so much that most had to have long periods of recuperation. What they were seeing now was their comrade's head being restored and him acting like nothing happened.

"Just what in the world are you?!"

"I am many things: the Lord of Life and Death, The Scourge of the Gods, but today I am your judge, jury, and executioner. All of you will face judgment for your sins, your crimes, and you will pay for them. None of you will die until you are permitted to die. You will submit to my judgment."

Vice Captain Arthur Oreio Partouche turned to Nigun. "Captain Nigun, what should we do now?"

In response, Captain Nigun pulled a glowing crystal out of his coat. "Protect me with your lives! I shall summon the highest level of angels! The Gods have not abandoned us!"

Tri'ade's eyebrows raised beneath his Golden Mask as he raised his left hand. _A sealing crystal? Highest Level Angel? This day has dragged out far too long for me to fight a Seraphim._

As Tri'ade concentrated on the spell he wished to use, a green emerald barrier slowly engulfed Nigun and his surrounded men. The light in the crystal that Nigun held faded, but no angel appeared for his efforts. The summoning process was blocked using the 8th tier spell Dimensional Lock which prevented all dimensional travel in a 20-foot radius around its target. The Dominion Authority that Nigun was trying to summon was blocked from entering the world.

Nigun began shaking the sealing crystal. "Why aren't you working! I did everything correctly!"

Tri'ade leaned forward and raised three fingers. "This is the third time that I must repeat myself, Your servants will not protect you from me. You are really dense, you know that? Get a clue. You cannot expect angels to be effective against something as powerful as a god..."

Vice Captain Arthur took a step back, agape. "A god?"

Breaking into a panic, Nigun breathlessly began begging for his life. "No! No. No. Please wait! I beg of you, Lord Tri'ade! Spare my life! The rest of these men do not matter! I'll do anything you wish! Name it! I'll do whatever it takes to appease you!"

Many of the Sunlight Scripture members gasped at their captain abandoning them and selling them out including the Vice Captain. It even disgusted Tri'ade. _Pathetic. He has no dignity in the end._

"Pettiness fueled by self-righteousness. You are faithful to no one. Not to your men, not to your kin, and not even to the divine. Know you deserve no mercy for you have shown none."

Tri'ade stepped forward to the group when he noticed something in the Sky. It looked like light cracking the very fabric of the sky itself.

 _Someone tried using surveillance magic here... the Scripture's masters likely... Huh, I wonder if my standard anti-divination wards are too much...If they were as weak as these men they are likely dead, not injured.._

In YGGDRASIL, in order to prevent the careless use of scrying magic, one could put warding magic on yourself which acted as a sort of reprisal for anyone trying to spy upon you.

There were standard explosive wards and even advance counter magics which spawned low-level thieving monsters who would steal everything in sight. Such wards necessitated people who wanted to use scrying magic to use magic to counter these wards so it was essentially an arms race.

This was in addition to the magic that blocked scrying altogether. But if the caster was much higher level then they can break through this simple safeguard, so many people preferred wards. Tri'ade had only the standard explosive ward on his person.

Tri'ade used a [Message] spell to contact the shadow demons around them to knock out and capture the Sunlight Scripture. They were instructed to put the Scripture in the Ice Prison on the fifth floor and to carry a message to Neuronist Painkill not to start interrogations until he said so.

 _Given how weak these humans are, Neuronist will kill a few of them accidentally. It might ruin my chances of turning some of these men if I sent them to her right away. If they really are an elite covert unit of the Theocracy, they could be useful despite their weakness._

Tri'ade walked back with Albedo at his side to Carne's Village. There to meet them were the villagers and the other temporary visitors to the village: the Warrior Select under command of Gazef who was now currently guarding the captured Slane Theocracy soldiers.

Gazef and the Village Chief noticed them approach and hurried towards them. The chief spoke first. "Is the village safe?"

Tri'ade raised his hand to reassure the man. "Yes, I defeated them. They will no longer trouble these people again."

Gazef Stronoff looked upon the untouched armor of Tri'ade and Albedo in shock not quite believing the implications of it. "Sir Tri'ade, I must ask. How did you deal with the Sunlight Scripture?"

The man in black and gold trim armor before Gazef put his hand to his chin before continuing to speak as he took his time to think on the answer. "That is a long conversation best held privately, Gazef."

Doing a slight bow to the Village Chief Tri'ade asked, "Do you perhaps have an empty house for us to discuss things?"

Taken aback by Tri'ade's courteous manner the Village Chief stammered a bit. "O-Of course. This way, my Lords."

They both were taken to one of the deceased villager's homes which were currently going in Tri'ade turned to Albedo."Please wait outside Albedo and guard the door. Make sure no one listens in."

Albedo nodded and he let Gazef go in first then closed the door behind him. They both proceeded to the dining area where there were a couple of chairs to sit in. The poorly made chairs made creaking sounds underneath the two armored men but held firm.

Seeing Gazef remain quiet, Tri'ade decided to speak first. "I suppose you want to know why I want to keep what we discuss between us private. It is because I am a foreigner to this land in every sense of the word. Myself and my followers were transported to your Kingdom by some sort of anomaly."

"Anomaly?"

"Right, right... something or someone we don't know teleported us to this land without our permission. So I began referring to it as an anomaly."

"Right."

"So I am a foreigner who knows nothing about this land, its people, its politics. For someone as powerful as myself that sort of ignorance can be dangerous. Not only for myself but for the people who follow me like Albedo. Today's events are proof enough of that."

"You saved me and this village today."

"In doing so, I made enemies with the nobles who want you dead and the Slane Theocracy in the process."

Tri'ade scratched his head. "Things kinda snowballed out of control today. I didn't know of either the Empire or the Theocracy until today. But by the time you and the Scripture arrived I had already saved this place once. Seeing it get destroyed after that would make the entire day feel pointless, you know?"

Gazef heartily laughed at this."You are right. I am sorry you and the villagers got caught up in this. Never suspected the Slane Theocracy would want me dead so badly."

"You can make it up by being my friend. Whenever you get new enemies you should look for new friends. At least that is what I think."

Stronoff simply nodded in understanding and then hesitated before asking."Still, how are you this strong? The only person I think could compare to you is that monster of a wizard Paradyne in the Empire."

Tri'ade paused at this for a moment scratching his chin. "Well, I have been fighting as an adventurer for a long time...lost track how long."

"You're part of the Adventurer's Guild?"

"Never been a member. Where we came from adventurer guilds like you know, they do not exist. They are more like enlarged adventurer teams. I was a guild master of a guild consisting of just forty-one members. "

"Huh, you really are a foreigner, Sir Tri'ade."

"Speaking of that, can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

Tri'ade and Gazef spent a long time conversing. While Tri'ade had to be careful in what he asked he did stick mostly to politics and local affairs of the Kingdom. He learned more about the political divides between the Royalty and the Noble factions, Princess Renner's attempts at reform, basic information regarding the Baharuth Empire, some more minor details on the adventurer guild and the non-guild members referred to as workers.

It was very late at night before Gazef's fatigue started to set in. He had ridden to the village in all haste, forgoing rest the previous night yet despite this, he tried to push on. Tri'ade soon began to notice this and called it a night. They both left the village house together with Albedo. Before they parted ways Gazef invited Tri'ade to the Capital to visit him and the King.

Before they left, however, there was one more person who he was interested in seeing. The girl named Enri Emmot. From what he knew both she and her sister were orphaned by the attack.

They received a warm welcome from the surprised sisters who were trying to clean up their home together. When Enri asked why they stopped by, Tri'ade responded by pulling out two Horns of the Goblin General.

"I want to give you these horns. They will allow you to permanently summon a team of goblins to help you protect this village."

"What?! Why give them to me then?! Why not the village chieftain?"

"Because they'll be permanently summoned to the one who uses the horn. However, if said summoner dies they too will die. The chieftain is old and I want this boon to last longer than the years he has left."

Shrugging and motioning over to Enri, Tri'ade continued, "As for why you? Well first off you are not old like the chieftain. Plus I hope you will think twice before using the summons to harm others due to your own experience with loss."

She came to a grim realization as to what Tri'ade meant. "You mean..."

"They are ripe for abuse you know? Summons are absolutely loyal to their summoner. If you gave the order to kill someone they would do it without a second thought."

"I would never do that!"

He clapped his hands together and leaned forward to Enri. "Exactly! You're perfect choice to be their summoner! You'll use them to protect this village, right?"

Enri looked away. "B-But I am in no way the right person to protect the village."

Looking at Enri he could still see how hesitant she was. Tri'ade put a hand on Enri's shoulder. "Please do this for me? I had to save this place twice today. It would put my mind at ease if you villagers had a means of defending yourselves."

Blushing slightly, Enri then gave out a long sigh, "I'll do it. I can't say no to our savior after all. I just don't know if I am up to the task."

He handed over two Horns of the Goblin General to Enri. "That is the wonderful thing about summoning magic. You don't need to be. The goblins will lend you their strength and skills. You need only give them direction in helping the village."

Tri'ade said goodbye to the Emmott sisters and at this point Tri'ade's party consisting of himself, Albedo and Hamsuke went back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Hamsuke was both frightened and awed at his new master's home. Hamsuke re-pledged his loyalty to him right then and there which Tri'ade promptly ignored causing the giant hamster great distress.

* * *

 **Afterword**

Surprise! I told you two weeks but I managed to piece together this in roughly one... give or take an hour or two. Smallest chapter to date. I was thinking of doing more scenes relating to being back in Nazarick after the fight, but I'll leave that for the next chapter. After I released the chapter prior to this story, I got flooded with views and visitors with people begging for more. I decided to relent and give the mob what it wants. I know I am weak-willed.

Do not expect me to release a chapter next Sunday though I have literally nothing written yet for the next chapter. This was only possible cause I frankly wrote most of the fight scene with the Sunlight Scripture as far back as Chapter 2 among other scenes. It was mostly a process of filling in the blanks and patching them together.

Pervy's note: "Weak-willed" my ass! And speaking of my ass… Your designated Grand Inquisitor forgot to remove this huge impaling spike after my last "re-education" session in the lower levels of your castle's dungeon! With this thing irritating my hemorrhoids, just how am I supposed to sit at my keyboard and proofread the next chapter!? Well…!? HEY! Why are you ignoring me!?


	6. Volume 1 Chapters 1-4 Scrapbook

_**Overlord Scrapbook of Deleted Scenes**_

 _Basically a collection of deleted scenes that were scrapped due to changes in the storyline in Chapters 1-4 and other reasons. Their not part of Tri'ade's story officially but I thought since I had this heap of scenes laying around some of you may enjoy them. Forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes._

* * *

 **Tri'ade's first morning in Nazerick.**

 _I decided to delete this scene because I felt it slowed down pacing and I had a bit of a writer's block on continuing it. Not to mention I don't think it contributed much to the story overall since it was basically slice of life stuff in it. Well besides Tri'ade's choice of casual wear in Nazerick which I mention later._

Tri'ade woke up groggy in his bed as he slowly opened his eyes the mosaics and engravings on his vaulted ceiling came into view.

That is definitely not the ceiling of my one bedroom apartment back on Earth. Well I can't avoid the reality of the situation now. Up and attum "Tri'ade".

He slipped out of his warm comfy bed still naked from the night before. First thing first clothes. While he could donn back his armor he wanted to find something more confortable to wear. Its unlikely he would face any serious resistance in Nazerick.

His glowing red eyes spotted his chambers wardrobe closet and he went over open it up. There were countless clothes in there robes, armor pieces, cloaks the list could go on. The first thing that caught his eye were a set of red sorcerer robes. It was a rather simple design mostly red with gold trimming and detailing on the front mostly symbolic of flames and had a hood. It was fairly low level around 40 and provided bonuses to fire resistance and other enchantments.

This looks easy to slip into. Just put it over me. I always did like clothing like that.

Tri'ade gabbed some generic boots of haste and got his rings from his inventory out to slip on. with that he was ready to head out. As soon as he did however he saw Sebas and a cute girl in a maid outfit standing right outside the door.

"Sebas and who is the maid next to you?"

"Fifth my Lord she was assigned to clean your room and I instructed to wait. As per your orders you wished not to be disturbed"

"Good she may proceed. I will be going to my office. I am sure Demiurge and Albedo wish to meet with me regarding their tasks. A status report for me will be needed."

Sebas quickly bowed.

"As you order my lord. I will inform them immediately."

* * *

 **Alternative Sky Scene**

 _Basically an alternative conversation from Overlord with Demiurge but with Tri'ade's instead of Momonga. I decided it wasnt different enough from the original and scrapped it along with the scenes related to it._

"The stars in the sky glitter like jewels."

"I believe this world exists so you may adorn yourself with its infinite riches and we guardians exist so you may do so."

If it were so I would be the luckiest person in the entire multi-verse. Such a rosey outcome is impossible. This entire situation is far too good to be true.

Tir'ade chuckled at this "I am sorry Demiurge but I do not believe Fate is so kind. For Fate to bring us to this world... something is wrong with it. Fate seldom intervenes in such a way for the selfish whims of individuals. Fate concerns itself over the wider tapestry. "

"You believe fate brought us here to fix this world?"

"Or to act as the catalyst for events which will yes. "

* * *

 **Alternative Discovery of Carne's Village Scene**

 _This is a scene which was radically different. Written prior to There be Monsters chapter. Basically Tri'ade discovers Carne Village prior to it's attack and is treated with hospitality by the Emmot family the night before. They decide to stay the night but cannot remove their armor without revealing their not human. Which results in this scene as the house goes to sleep._

 _It was the "first" scene with sexual content I had written which I am not well versed in writing. Predating the night Tri'ade and Albedo had together in the climax of the There be Monsters Chapter. The excursion in the Tobb Forest left no time for Tri'ade to discover Carne Village early. It was even going to get a mention later in the Sunlight Scripture battle as a bit of comedy but that was cut out too._

Slipping her armored gauntlet off her hand, revealing her bare skin, she reached for Tri'ades inner thigh. Albedo put her helmeted face near to his ear.

"You know my lord... If you'r having trouble sleeping I can help with that."

It suddenly felt like a furnace under Tri'ades armor and his leggings felt far too tight.

If its only her hand... fuck lets do it.. I probably can't stop her going further than that in other circumstances"

"Only your hand and you will clean up the mess afterward. Be discreet we are not in our own home."

One could hear panting under the black armor of Albedo. She was clearly getting very excited at the prospect of servicing her Lord.

"U-U-Understood darling. Leave everything to me."

That said Tri'ade didn't trust Albedo to fully control herself given her eagerness.. So he silently cast some illusion magic to mask themselves. Tri'ade did so as she began preparations to "service him" by adjusting his armor so she didn't notice.

After an hour or two of Albedo's tender loving care Tri'ade slept soundly for the rest of the night. Albedo took care to keep watch over her beloved Lord.

In the early morning he was awoken by by Albedo.

"What is it Albedo?"

Albedo whispered her reply

"I apologize for waking you my lord but our scouts have spotted a group of armed humans heading to this village. "

Odd the village chief didn't mention there being a war going on. Must be bandits.

"Should we leave my Lord?"

"No Albedo this might be a perfect opportunity to test our strength against the locals. We will fend them off should they prove hostile. If not we will speak with them to learn more about this land."

As the two began to leave a groggy Nemu came into the room.

"Tri'ade-san are you going already?"

Tri'ade turned to face the little child.

"No me and Albedo are going to go on a morning walk to get some fresh air. We will be back in a little bit."

They left before the rest of the family began to wake up and delay them. They began walking to the Village's enterance when he spotted mounted knights spill into the village from all sides.

Knights?! So much for facing bandits.

Two mounted Knights were galloping towards him in the little path between the villages homes he was in. He quickly cast a spell to hopefuly stop them in their tracks.

"「Maximize Magic: Chain Lighting!」"

A single bolt of lighting flew from his outstretched hand and arched itself to the Knight he cast it upon. The Lighting jumped to both the Knights and their horses. Both were fried so thoroughly they turned into a cloud of dust in the wind.

It looks like I may have gone overboard by maximizing that six teir spell.

"Amazing my Lord. You obliterated those humans!"

"Weak... still there are too many of them."

* * *

 **Alternative Start to Tri'ade vs Sunlight Scripture**

"Do you think the gods approve of your slaughter of innocent villagers?

"What kind of question is that? Our mission was ordained by the Pontifex Maximus himself. It is the will of the gods themselves that they be sacrificed to kill Gazeth Stronoff."

Pontifex Maximus If i recall correctly that's what the Romans called their highest priest. Probably the Theorcacy's leader.

"Is it not blasphemy to falsely claim the will of the divine as your own?"

"It is not false! The Pontifex Maximus is infallible!"

Ah some sort of papal infallibility dogma. If they have that they must have heretics and theological opponents for them to adopt such a practice.

"It is false. A mortal man cannot truly understand the will of the divine. Your day of judgement is at hand. Surrender now and I may be merciful.

* * *

 **Alternative Rescue Scene:**

 _This is basically a first draft of the start of the Carne Village part of the story. It got revised twice due to changes that I later made._ _I still like it though. Tri'ade is a bit harsher to these knights in this scene cause he witnessed the butchery in the village up close first hand. Rather than being more pragmatic and sparing more of them for use in information gathering later._

Tir'ade stepped through the portal to find the village girls hunched on the ground and the knights frozen in surprise at his appearance.

"Knights. Surrender or die. Your choice. "

The nearest Knight lunged forward at him and Tir'ade raised his left hand. He concentrated on casting the spell Death, an instant death magic spell on the knight. The Knight then fell to the ground at Tir'ades feet like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Looking down at the man he said.

"You chose poorly."

Tir'ade turned his gaze onto the lone remaining knight.

"What is your choice?"

The Knight was quivering in fear and a faint smell of ammonia reached Tir'ades nose. He dropped his weapon and it clanged on the ground near his feet.

Ugg. Did he just piss himself in fear? I think my attempt at intimidation was too effective.

"Good Choice. Pity you soiled yourself."

The Knight stuttered when he spoke up.

"M-My A-Apologies."

Ignoring the soiled Knight Tir'ade turned his gaze onto the two village girls. He saw the large gash on the older one's back.

"You are hurt. Let me tend to it"

* * *

 **Afterword.**

Hope you enjoyed. Now to continue to write Chapter 5 and the start of Volume 2 content. If you guys like this I might do the same for that volume's chapters as well.


	7. Volume 2: Chapter 1: Revelations

_**Volume 2: Fire Lord , Chapter 1: Revelations**_

 _Proofread by PervySageShuck 12/30/2018_

Entering the Room of Truth in the Frozen Prison on the 5th floor of Nazarick, the Lord of this place beheld a grotesque sight. A huge, grey, bloated corpse-like thing with tentacles lay before him. What made the sight more disturbing was the tight leather outfit the... thing wore.

It was something that would entice any man if it was worn by a female of their own species or something similar enough in shape to their own. But upon such an alien-like creature with its octopus-like tentacles, it was jarring.

This was Neuronist Painkill, the Special Intelligence Collector of the Frozen Prison which was a just a fancy title describing her real job as a torturer. For a moment, Tri'ade turned his head to look away from her and he could hear Neuronist giggle in her sweet, girly voice.

 _You know I think it was easier to look at "her" when this was just a game. The knowledge that Painkill was not a real being made it more palatable I suppose... I need to get over it. It's hard to ask for loyalty if you show dislike._

He straightened up to look directly into Painkill's eyes. "Is Captain Nigun ready for questioning?"

Speaking again in her sweet and seductive voice the grey blob of tentacles that was Neuronist Painkill responded, "Oh yes, dear Lord. I have him strapped in and he should be waking up soon."

Using one of her tentacles she waved over to a small table nearby that was full of horrific implements. Tri'ade could see a blood-letter, an amputation saw, and various other things that looked like archaic medical equipment. "All the tools have been cleaned and prepared so feel free to use them if you wish, my Lord."

Moving past the tools, he looked upon Nigun. The Captain was strapped to the wall in a rather extensive setup. His arms were connected to the wall via large metal shackles with another set around his wrists. A similar set up was around his legs and ankles with thick leather straps around his waist and neck.

Surprising Tri'ade was the gag in his mouth and a metal compress around his head that looked like it could be adjusted for its size via large screws. Nigun woke up in a panic with a look of sheer terror on his face and mumbled with the gag in his mouth. Turning to Painkill, Tri'ade questioned her, "I think we have differing views on questioning. Remove the gag. I wish him to be able to speak."

"As you wish, my dear lord!"

Moving towards Nigun, he could see the fear and revulsion in his eyes as Neuronist Painkill pranced over to him and used her tentacles to remove his gag. Once removed, Nigun screamed, "Aaaah!"

Painkill moved closer to the screaming Nigun, placing her tentacles over his face. "Be a good boy. I'll let you enjoy my kiss!" This only made Nigun sweat and scream more. Tri'ade stomped his feet. "Enough! You are distracting him. Please wait outside the room. I'll let you know when you are needed."

Painkill backed away from Nigun and straightened her back. "Of course, my Lord. My beauty is unsurpassed! No doubt this man cannot focus on you while I am present, as alluring as I am. Please do not hesitate to call upon me. I exist to serve. "She pranced out of the room with her large bloated hips swaying from side to side out of the large door. Tri'ade placed his hand over his mask sighing as he did so. "Well, Captain do you have anything to say?"

"What was that monster?!"

Chuckling, Tri'ade moved closer to Nigun. "Well, you aren't in a position to ask questions, Captain. But I'll indulge you. You are my prisoner in my domain. That monster as you called her is a servant of mine. She specializes in torture... to inflict pain... to make wicked men like you confess. Her very being was crafted for that purpose."

"Crafted?"

"Yes. Everything around you was made by me and my peers including her. You have no hope of escaping this place." He gently placed the back of his gauntlet upon Nigun's cheek. "To resist is to invite pain and suffering. Comply and there will be no pain. Do you understand?"

"No. You said I deserved no mercy."

"You do not. But people can get what they do not deserve. Did those villagers deserve to be killed?"

"Why do you care what happens to those insignificant peasants?"

Tri'ade slapped Nigun across the cheek. Teeth and blood flew out of his mouth.

"Irrelevant. You are to comply. To answer my questions not avoid them."

Nigun tried to answer but with his jaw being in the state that it was the blood drowned him out. So Tri'ade raised his hand again to Nigun making him flinch in anticipation of another strike.

["Cure Moderate Wounds"]

Light spread across Nigun's broken jaw as it reformed itself. As it did Tri'ade thought to himself.

 _Seeing him here bound and at my mercy... when his jaw broke I felt a rush coursing through my veins. It felt like that too when I crushed those Angels' heads and pummeled that stupid troll._

Raising his gauntlet again, Tri'ade spoke a single word, "Comply."

"They were necessary sacrifices."

Smiling beneath his mask, Tri'ade lowered his hand. "Easy for you to say. I doubt they would agree."

"They are ignorant peasants. They do not know what is required for humanity."

"Really now? You killed them in order to kill a man with a heroic heart. I would think humanity would require more men like Gazef Stronoff, not fewer. Why was his death necessary?"

"If I tell you would you free me?"

 _Is he underestimating my resolve?_

"You are in no position to negotiate. I showed you before that avoiding answering questions results in pain."

Tri'ade went over to Nigun's right hand is held in place by his shackles on the wall. He put Nigun's thumb between his index finger and middle finger. Pressing both of them together against Nigun's thumb he heard the bones crack beneath them. Nigun screamed in great pain. Despite being a veteran as a magic user he was unaccustomed to physical injury as a warrior would be.

"Mortals are so fragile. Humans most of all. I can understand taking extreme measures to protect them. But massacring human settlements to kill a heroic warrior seems... counter-intuitive. So please if you would be so kind... enlighten me."

With a grimace on his face Nigun spoke. "Go to hell."

 _Why is he being obstinate now? He was begging to do anything earlier…_

Tri'ade moved his two fingers to Nigun's index finger then proceeded to break the bones in that as well. Nigum bit his lip holding back his scream this time. "I wonder where that man who wanted to appease me went?"

Not waiting for Nigun to respond, Tri'ade went to his victim's middle finger and broke it as well. After screaming Nigun was sweating profusely and began to breathe heavily. "M-Monster."

Tri'ade tilted his head at Nigun and looked at both sides of him. They were definitely alone in this room."Monster? The only monster I see is you."

The finger breakers now went over to Nigun's ring finger and began squeezing it between them. Snapping and cracking sounds filled the room as the bones in it broke. "Answer the question or the pain will only get worse."

Despite the fear on his face Nigun only answered with silence. This time Tri'ade squeezed down on Nigun's pinky finger and pulled ripping it right off the man's hand, resulting in a blood-curdling scream issuing forth from his mouth.

"Comply."

"Make me."

 _Maybe I've been going too easy on him? He might have been trained to resist torture. I guess it's enough playing around. Time to get serious._

Tri'ade's hand now went right in front of Nigun's face as he concentrated on the spell [dominate mind]. As the spell went to work on his mind his eyes seemed to get a glazed look over them.

"Now tell me, why did the Theocracy wish Gazef Stronoff dead?"

"The Kingdom is corrupt and divided. People like Gazef Stronoff are prolonging its inevitable fall. The Pontifex Maximus feels it should fall quickly and the Empire take its territory to better secure humanity's future."

"I see. But why does the Theocracy want the Empire..." Before Tri'ade could ask his second question Nigun was engulfed in a bright green light. What remained of him was only a trace of fine dust. "What?! NO! What happened?!"

 _Some kind of delayed spell? No, he had no time to cast anything in his state. It must have been conditional. But...Damn it! Of course, it was my use of mind control magic. So some kind of cyanide pill type spell? Nothing like that ever existed in YGGDRASIL. So not only do the locals know YGGDRASIL spells but can develop new ones..But he obviously couldn't activate it on his own…_

His fist slammed against the wall next to where Nigun's body used to hang creating a hole in the wall.

 _That bastard knew! That's where his stubbornness came from. He decided a quick death would be better._

Resting his head on the wall he looked down to the pile of dust that remained of Nigun.

 _Why destroy the body though? That prevents Resurrection for most low tier magic...That's right! Most spell effects typically disappear after a resurrection. So if one of their men chose to come back from death they wouldn't have the "cyanide spell" on them._

"Ah, well, live and learn. I doubt this will work but let's try it."

He stepped away from the wall and pointed his hand towards the pile of dust. ["True Resurrection!"]

Light enveloped the dust but nothing happened. _Of course, Nigun saw me resurrect his fallen comrade. The whole free will component of resurrection spells is troublesome._

Tri'ade called Neuronist Painkill back in and updated her on what happened. Leaving out the fact he accidentally killed the Captain of course. He played it off as having confirmed a suspicion he had of the existence of the counter-spell for mind control magic. Painkill bought it. He instructed her to treat the fragile humans with care as not to kill them and stayed around to watch Neuronist Painkill work on the other Sunlight Scripture captives. As well as to try dispelling magic to remove the "cyanide spell" upon them and heal them to try to keep them alive.

After some trial and error, it took a tier eight break enchantment spell to dispel the mind control countermagic. Granted a few more Scripture members died as a result of Tri'ade taking out his frustrations on them. Neuronist Painkill, of course, helped him during this. The initial disgust Tri'ade had for her form gradually disappeared as he came to appreciate her expertise with the prisoners. They stopped after the sixth prisoner died.

The questioning became far smoother after finding a way around the counter to mind control spells but the damage was done already. The subordinates of Captain Nigun apparently didn't even know about the sealing crystal their captain tried to use. Most of the information besides the existence of the other Scriptures seemed to be general knowledge.

Tri'ade was about ready to hand off the support duty to Painkill when something unexpected happened for the second time today. One of the Scripture members was unusually forthcoming. He didn't beg for any special treatment like promises for life and freedom like the others whose lips became loose. He seemed resigned to his fate.

After Nigun, Tri'ade didn't make it a habit to ask for the names for the Scripture members. He didn't want to try to humanize them after seeing Painkill get to work. He found he enjoyed their screams more that way and focused on what they did to Carne Village. But this one caught his curiosity.

Tri'ade went over to this man and lifted his head up so he could look him in the eye. "What is your name?"

"Arthur Oreio Partouche."

"Well, Arthur, you have been a most agreeable prisoner. Care to tell me why that is?"

"We deserve this..."

"Hmm?"

"We were told that this mission was the will of the Gods. It was a lie."

Letting go of Arthur's head it slumped down with his eyes downcast.

"It does not surprise me. People are often ignorant of the gods they worship and some choose to take advantage of that."

Arthur raised his head to meet Tri'ade's gaze head-on. He remained silent, allowing Tri'ade to continue to speak. "Who told you the mission was the will of the gods?"

"Captain Nigun did. He said the Pontifex Maximus declared it so. He would remind me of it often."

 _Often? Ah I see now. That bastard had to drill it into this man's head that despite the Theocracy's rhetoric of protecting humanity that they needed to butcher those people. Wait…_

Becoming accustomed to Arthur's forthrightness, Tri'ade said what was on his own mind, "You would have many conversations with Captain Nigun?"

"Of course! I am his Vice-Captain. Not that it mattered to him in the end."

 _Jackpot! Maybe I can salvage something from the mess that bastard Nigun left me with_

"That man was truly wicked. Throwing you and the rest of his men under the... wagon like that. His fate was well deserved."

"His fate?"

"Dead. May his soul receive judgment for his life's sins by his Gods. Let him try to justify his deeds to them."

"What of my fate then?"

Putting his hand on his chin, Tri'ade leaned forward to look at Arthur closely. "Good question. Most of your peers that I have seen have not shown a shred of sincere remorse. Only speaking in platitudes out of fear. You are different. You are penitent."

Turning to Neuronist Painkill, Tri'ade gave an order with both his arms behind him with his back straight now. "Unshackle him. Give him his clothing back so he can wear something. Then have him ready and back here in say... half an hour. I'll be back then to continue his questioning then."

Her bloated form performed a curtsy. "As you wish, my dear lord."

Arthur just looked on to them in a state of confusion.

* * *

Nearly thirty minutes later after getting uncomfortably dressed by Neuronist Painkill the man known as Arthur Partouche stood in the Room of Truth. Unlike before he was not shackled to the wall but standing patiently for Tri'ade Nazarick's return.

Arthur looked at the morbid display of torture equipment still on the table nearby.

 _The Captain died in this room. Likely from that monster using those upon him. I feel like I should feel mournful for him but I can't. Not after everything that happened._

Flashes of memory raced through Arthur's mind of a burning village and of a woman begging for his help before having her throat slit open. Blood choking her last words as the man he was supposed to meet with smiled in satisfaction. Then the echoes of the voices of the dead villagers rang in his ears, all crying for mercy. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he recalled that night.

 _There was nothing holy about our mission. Even if the gods wished for their destruction there must have been a different way to do it... A more humane way. Perhaps if I did something... anything... things would have been different. Like the Six Great Gods said_ , "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

He turned away from the monster in the room with him and wiped the tears that he was beginning to shed.

 _I did nothing... nothing…_

Giggling behind him from Neuronist Painkill reminded Arthur where he was and he tried to regain his composure. As he turned around he saw a black oval of energy open up before him.

Out of it walked a tall human man in red robes with golden embroidery signifying flames. It was only when he spoke that Arthur recognized the voice was Tri'ade's. "Ah, there you are. Please follow me."

Tri'ade's arm stretched out to offer Arthur a hand and he hesitated a moment before accepting it. He was then led through the black oval and into a rather fine dining room with a round table in the center. Upon this table laid a small banquet of meals and snacks of a quality Arthur had never even dreamed of before. An old butler helped seat Tri'ade Nazarick at one end.

Arthur was frozen stiff at the scene laid before him, not knowing what to do. Seeing this, Tri'ade motioned for Arthur to sit down across from him.

"Sit. Sit."

After sitting down, Arthur just stared at the food displayed before him with a whetted appetite. The paltry food served in the Frozen Prison was barely edible summoned food. But even so, he was afraid of offending the Lord of this place by digging in.

"I find a good meal is the best thing to have after a hard day. I dare say we both need it. Not knowing your preferences I had the cooks prepare a little bit of everything."

Tri'ade picked up a slice of a cheesy dish with his bare hands and ate it. "Mm-mm! Delicious. You should try it."

Pushing it over to Arthur he picked up a slice and imitated how he saw Tri'ade ate his. It was the most delicious thing Arthur had ever eaten in his life. The warm cheese on top melted in his mouth, the sauce he was unfamiliar with but it was sweet, and the crust was light and fluffy like he imagined a cloud would be.

He couldn't help himself from eating two more slices before he had to ask: "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Treating me to dinner. Unchaining me, everything."

"Everything meaning including battling you? Because I feel I should do it. I unchained you because I honestly believe you are penitent. That you sincerely feel regret for your wrongful actions or lack of action."

Tri'ade turned his head to gaze over the prepared meal for him. "As for the meal? I must admit gluttony is a vice of mine. So I thought it might be good to mitigate that vice by sharing the meal." As he finished talking, Tri'ade took a chocolate covered cherry from a bowl and ate it.

 _Am I so transparent? No way this guy has the powers of a god and somehow gained the allegiance of monsters. All at the same time and still being a true hero of justice! He must have some ability to read minds... but if so, why torture people for information? IS it really information he is after? No, he must be punishing them for our sins against humanity._

Sighing and brushing his hair from his eyes, Arthur asked, "What will happen to me and to the rest of my men?"

Tri'ade had to finish gulping down a chocolate covered cherry before answering. "You shall repent by helping me. Their sentencing will continue. However, if we find any more like you they will be brought into service as well."

"Helping you with what exactly?"

"To bring those who ordered the massacres to justice. I imagine if I simply waltzed into the Slane Theocracy, many would try to prevent it. Leading to many unfortunate deaths in trying to investigate and detain them."

Pointing to him, Tri'ade continued. "You however, as the surviving member of the Sunlight Scripture are in a better position to investigate the reasons behind this mission of yours. Among other things I may wish for you to do."

"But the Pontifex Maximus himself is said to have ordered it!"

"That is exactly why I need an investigator. After all, to err is human. The Pontifex Maximus is still human, is he not? I need to know of the motivation behind the order to properly judge the man. If he is innocent then no action needs to be taken."

Arthur could swear the eyes of Tri'ade glowed red for a moment. "However, if the Pontifex Maximus is a blasphemer who falsely claims actions are the will of the gods and orders wicked deeds to be done in their name, then... Well, Arthur, that cannot be allowed to go on, can it?"

He gulped instinctively. "No, it cannot."

"So will you help me?"

"Y-Yes. I will."

"Excellent. Now let us continue our meal. There are some other things I wish to discuss."

They continued their meal until the both of them were both full to the brim. All the while, discussing things related to their views on the Gods, the Theocracy, and other matters.

Tri'ade discussed the concept of the God of Creation and how everything in existence is composed of said god, even other gods. He tried explaining to Arthur how even he had tiny organisms living inside of him and much like their relationship to him, it was similar to God's relationship to them.

Arthur meanwhile tried the best he could to explain the Six Great Gods who seemed to correspond to elemental forces but he was no theological scholar. As such he discussed more the Theocracy he knew and cared for more than anything else. How, as he was training, he viewed the Scriptures as heroes of humanity and about his Uncle, the Cardinal of Wind.

At the end of it Arthur was sent back to his cell and was said to wait for when Tri'ade was ready to leave Nazarick.

Picking up a toothpick, Tri'ade began picking at the leftovers in his teeth. His illusion over his face was gone now that Arthur had returned to his cell. He sat contently at the dinner table as the maids began cleaning up the table and taking away the leftovers.

 _Well, Arthur is going to be one damn useful spy. Nephew to a Cardinal. Couldn't have dreamed of a better candidate. I wonder how he will take it when he realizes he helped a devil out rather than a god?_

Albedo, who came into the room after Arthur left spoke up, "My Lord. Forgive me but I must ask. Can that human be trusted?"

"Hmm? Of course. That man has a tortured conscious and I offered a method in which to soothe it. As long as he continues to think of me as some righteous individual he should be loyal enough."

Tri'ade leaned upon his hand to rest on his chin while looking at Albedo. "Besides seeing Neuronist and knowing we have a prison, he doesn't know much of us that would be of any use to the Theocracy. That is why I gated him back to his cell. I'll do the same when taking him out of Nazarick."

"But he has seen you fight. He may warn them of you."

Waving with his other hand, Tri'ade rebutted Albedo. "They have seen enough already. Remember my anti-surveillance magic kicked in the moment I moved close to their Captain. It doesn't have the largest area of effect so they probably saw the Sunlight Scripture fighting at least, if not me as well. So the only thing Arthur could tell them is a confirmation of their fears."

Lifting his head and putting both his hands together while interlocking his fingers, he continued on, "It is worth the minor risks to have a spy situated in the Theocracy. Considering what we have learned of their foreign policy, it is inevitable that they will pursue hostilities with us eventually. The more we learn about them, the better our position will be in the future."

"So you are using him as a pawn. As expected of you, my lord!"

Albedo began to fidget and pressed both of her index fingers together. "Speaking of the future, many of us are uncertain what you wish. You said you wished to gather information while hiding Nazarick but then you conquered the monsters of the forest and saved that human village spreading your name to them."

 _Damn it. I hoped they wouldn't notice that. I just wanted out of the Tomb and simply reacted to the whole village thing..._

"I suppose that may seem contradictory to some. But we require the resources of the forest and given the isolation of the location, it will unlikely be noticed by the major powers. As for the village. I spread the name of Tri'ade Nazarick the heroic magic caster, not the title of Lord Tri'ade the ruler of Nazarick."

Tri'ade stood up from the dinner table now and faced Albedo. "In fact, I believe we should capitalize on growing my fame in human society. That should introduce me to influential circles and grant me many more opportunities to gather information. A neutral faction like the Adventurer's Guild seems to be the best place to pursue this. I can then make contacts with leaders from the Kingdom and the Empire."

"What about the Theocracy?"

"That is Arthur's role. While my own initial information gathering and his won't be sufficient on their own they can lay the groundwork to send in more infiltrators such as doppelgangers we can hire via the mercenary system and the succubi that I can summon. With the second wave of infiltrators, Nazarick's influence will spread with subtlety."

"Absolutely brilliant! As expected of my love. When do we leave?

Scratching the back of his head and turning his head Tri'ade responded, "Ah... about that, Albedo."

* * *

In the Forest of Tob, the new "administrator" of the region, Ryuraryūsu Supenia Ai Indarun, was meeting with one of his new Lord's servants as promised. It was Demiurge, Guardian of the 7th Floor.

Ryura was "sitting" down with Demiurge in his home, a quaint wooden hut in his village. They were discussing what Nazarick required of him.

"While your herbalist's knowledge is interesting what I require is live specimens for my own research."

"What sort of specimens can this old one get for you?"

"Ten pairs of goblins, ogres, and trolls of both genders should be sufficient. "

Ryura was taken back by the request but reminded himself he was working with demons. He thanked Ouroboros that Demiurge was not requesting any Naga. "The trolls may pose a problem. While this old one may know where to find them capturing them will be difficult."

Demiurge smiled as he said. "Does Guu not work for you? From what I know he has many trolls under his service"

 _Damn demon!_ thought Ryura. If he asked for Naga would he expect me to give up my own kin to satisfy his demands? Ryura thought of his daughter Siska who was still in Nazarick and shuddered. Despite Lord Tri'ade's assurances that his daughter would be safe, he had his doubts.

"That may be the case, however, Guu has few female trolls in his camp. The only place this old one knows to acquire the number you wish for is in a troll village. We would need to assemble a large force to capture the trolls there."

"Then do so. You are obligated to provide what I require, are you not?"

"Of course. But that would take time. Guu and his band are already busy subjugating a tribe of goblins. This old one is sure you wish to begin your research quickly, yes? May I ask to be lent assistance to acquire the trolls you wish?"

Demiurge put his hand to his chin while contemplating for a moment. "Yes, it would be best if this was done quickly. Do you have a village in mind?"

Bowing, Ryura stated, "Of course, Lord."

"There is only one Lord. Take care to remember that. I am a Guardian."

"My apologies."

"You will personally lead me to the trolls. No one else is to come, understood?"

"This one old does not understand but will obey."

"Good enough."

Both of them left the wooden hut and ventured into the forest. Some Naga at the village noticed hours later that a large plume of smoke rose up in the distance in the same direction the two had gone.

A great walled city situated on grassy plains lay before Tri'ade and he could hear his boots echo on the paved cobblestone road he was on. Large wooden gates were open before him granting all who wished it access to the fortress city.

If you waited in the line, that is. A long line of people, wagons, and horses were arrayed in front of the gates. He nearly stepped in horse crap a few times. Tri'ade was in the middle of this line along with Narberal Gamma and Arthur Partouche.

Both Narberal and Arthur were in rather plain looking robes while Tri'ade decided to stick with his usual armor. No maid armor was visible for Narberal but she could quickly change into that attire with a quick change crystal.

His thoughts were if he was going to capitalize on the fact he saved Carne village, he should be recognizable and given he never showed his face, his armor was his only identifiable marking. However, he was beginning to question that given the long stares many were giving around him. Turning his head, he looked at Narberal who was getting almost as many stares as him but for different reasons.

 _Maybe I should have worn something more subdued. The robes that I wear around Nazarick perhaps? No, I probably would have never got Albedo to agree to my going with Narberal if I did. Wearing those things would be like walking out here naked. Nearly no protection at all. It was hard enough as it was to convince her._

Narberal had a disgusted frown on her face as she stood next to him. "These miserable insects should know their place and make way for you."

Tri'ade facepalmed at her remark. It was the latest in the tirade of similar remarks she made in the process of waiting in line. Both from her aggravation of waiting in line in the first place and from the brave souls who mustered up the courage to flirt with her in it. She was beginning to grate on Tri'ade like a child who kept on saying "Are we there yet?" in a car. Tri'ade wondered if she had any self-awareness of exactly where she was.

 _What sort of doppelganger can't even act? Is it hard-coded as part of her settings? I really wish I could check that but I don't have the staff with me. I wonder if I could change that if that is the case?_

He had left the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown with the Miko of the 8th floor. It was far too dangerous to use outside of Nazarick, being the Guild Weapon and frankly, it was not optimized for Tri'ade's character build. That was not surprising since it was made for Momonga, the original Guild Master. That being the case, any experiments with Guild Master abilities would have to wait for later.

As he thought this, they finally came to the front of the guards who were stationed at the checkpoint at the gates of the city took one look at him and became visibly alarmed.

Four of them went out to meet with Tri'ade's group but walked in a strange manner. Two of them walked ahead of the other half which stayed behind several meters. _Strange. What are they doing that far apart?_

Tri'ade did a mental estimation of the meters between the guards and figured it was around ten meters exactly. Knowing this, the reason became clear to him.

 _They are guarding themselves against charm spells! Ten meters is a good standard distance for that unless the caster is high level. Of course a society with magic in it but low magical potential would do this! They don't have easy access to mind-immunity items._

His mood slightly brightened at this realization. Tri'ade, for the most part, hated idiots and respected ingenuity like what was being displayed here. He almost didn't hear the guards when one of them said, "We'd like to ask you a few questions. Could you come with us to the checkpoint?"

"Magg-" A metal gauntlet covered Narberal's mouth to prevent her from speaking further.

"Of course, gentlemen. I would be happy to."

The guards escorted them to the checkpoint but the tension in the air was obvious. They eyed him warily, obviously trying to be ready for any surprises Tri'ade might have in store for them.

They entered into a small blockhouse which the guards had Tri'ade enter first. It appeared to be fairly spartan in furnishing. One of the guardsmen sat across from him ready to conduct an interview. "Could you sit down there?"

"Certainly."

"Let's start with your name and place of birth."

"My name is Tri'ade Nazarick. As for my birthplace, I am sure you have never heard of it."

"Be that as it may, I need to know."

 _Ugh, I had hoped to avoid this but I already banked on being a very far away foreigner as a cover story for my ignorance and to excuse any strange things I might do._

"I am from Helheim near the city of Edda."

The guardsman raised his eyebrow at this."You are right. I haven't heard of this place. Why have you come all this way to E-Rantel then, Tri'ade?"

"Business primarily. I need to acquire supplies to continue my journey and it's been recommended to me to join the Adventurer's Guild in this city."

"Well, as a foreigner to this city there is a road toll as it were to enter the city. Five Copper."

"As expected. Can I pay this toll on behalf of my companions as well?"

"The woman and the man that was with you? Of course."

Pulling up a large bag of coins, Tri'ade landed them with a resounding thud on the wooden table. In it was roughly six thousand copper coins he had gotten as reward from the villagers. He counted fifteen copper coins from the large bag and handed them over to the guard.

"Of course, I also plan to have these copper coins exchanged while here." Noticing how the guards were looking at it.

The guard staring in curiosity at the large bag said, "Why do you have so many copper coins in the first place?"

"Oh, I saved a village and this is all they had to pay me in."

Staring with their jaws agape both guardsmen in the room almost yelled. "You mean you are the magic caster who saved Carne Village?!"

Smiling, Tri'ade answered, "Yes, that would be me."

The guardsmen looked at each other while the other left the room. The one sitting across from Tri'ade coughed. "Well, there have been enough questions here. The Mayor has told us he wants to meet with you should you ever come to our city. I apologize for taking up your time."

Tri'ade waved at him. "No, no. You were simply doing your jobs. I understand completely. I hope the rest of your shift is pleasantly uneventful."

It was then Tri'ade and his party were ushered through the gates without any more questions or inspections. They found themselves walking down the main thoroughfare of E-Rantel wondering where to go from there. Tri'ade turned to Arthur walking beside him.

"Arthur, do you happen to know where we can get currency exchanged?"

"I have never been to E-Rantel but the local Merchant Guild Hall would be the place to do it."

"Alright, then that is our first stop. Let us ask one of these merchants."

Upon asking the merchants of the city they were given directions to the Guild where Tri'ade exchanged his six thousand copper coins for several gold coins and numerous silver coins. Keeping some copper coins of course for small purchases.

The exchange rates were weird to Tri'ade though it seemed to be in the scale of 13 not ten from copper. That was not the case for silver and gold coins though. Tri'ade bemused it was likely the lack of standardization in currency or perhaps a devaluing of copper value. Being from a world of fiat currency and game currency the whole concept of precious metal prices affecting how much your money was worth was strange to him.

He got another coin-pouch from the merchants and filled it with roughly a third of what he had and handed it over to Arthur. "This should be more than enough to get you started back to the Theocracy. Use the rest however you see fit in your new mission."

"You are far too generous. Ah, are you going to the Mayor now?"

"Considering who he is, I shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Can I go too? It will take a while to make travel arrangements."

"And do what? Lie to avoid him knowing who you are or apologize for your actions then get arrested? No. Better we part ways now that we are in the city. Remember what I told you and keep the item safe."

Arthur laid a hand on his jacket above where the item was kept. The sealing crystal that Nigun tried to use at Carne's village was with him now. Tri'ade avoided saying treasure to prevent potential pickpockets from hearing.

"Of course you are right. I have engraved what you have told me upon my mind. I will not fail you."

"If you fail, you do not fail me. You fail yourself. Those who die with regret have difficulty moving on."

With that, Arthur bowed and left. Tri'ade sighed.

 _I didn't have the heart to tell him I sent the rest of his comrades to Demiurge. Ah well, better for him to think they're dead. It'll be interesting to see how the Cardinals receive my message as well as the messenger. If they detain and torture him to death he can't reveal anything of importance._

He grinned under his mask.

 _Even if that happens, that sealing crystal making its way back to them will be worth it. Thanks to the divination spell I have I can track it wherever it goes. I can then use it as a starting point for scrying efforts on the Theocracy. Hopefully, they put all their treasures of the Six Great Gods in one place._

Even if he could not penetrate the treasury of the Slane Theocracy with divination magic that would still provide useful clues on how powerful the Slane Theocracy or it's gods might be. Since to penetrate surveillance barriers one has to be of higher spell level than the one who cast the barrier.

If he could penetrate the defenses of the Slane Theocracy most sacred treasure room, defenses that their most powerful spell-casters erected or even their gods themselves, then their threat potential should be low. If he couldn't then that would mean killing the Sunlight Scripture so easily was a fluke and the Theocracy was an opponent to be wary of.

It also depended on the Theocracy actually having a treasure vault and not openly displaying it in a cathedral or monastery. He doubted in a world of monsters and magic, a place like the English monasteries that the Vikings sacked in history could ever exist. But given the theocracy was a religious nation he couldn't discount the possibility. It would make taking their relics easier but it wouldn't provide the information he truly desired.

Tri'ade sighed as they crossed into the Administration District of E-Rantel where the Mayoral Palace was located. The guards at the front had informed them of who they were so it was quick to get through.

 _Still, I don't know how long it takes to travel by foot or by horse. Nor how far Arthur has to go. Weeks? Maybe a month? I guess I'll play it by ear and wait till Arthur contacts me._

After passing by some warehouses, Tri'ade's party finally saw the Mayoral Palace of E-Rantel. It was a quintessential medieval palace even if it seemed a bit stunted by the fact that it resided within the walls of the city.

They were received warmly by the Mayor's staff and sat upon cushioned seats in a meeting room. The floor itself had an ornate rug underneath their feet. Honestly, it reminded Tri'ade of a living room or a large reception area in a hotel.

When the door opened next a fairly pear-shaped man entered with a face similar to an obese bulldog and ultra-thin white hair. He breathed heavily as he came across to Tri'ade. "M-My a-apologies, dear guests. I am afraid a mayor's work is never done."

Tri'ade stood up to greet the mayor and Narberal did the same. They shook hands and Tri'ade noticed how limp wristed his handshake was. But with Narberal he shook her hand with both of his.

"Pleasure. A pleasure to meet you, and you dear lady. My name is Panasolei Gruze Day Rettenmaier and I am the mayor of this fine city."

"Charmed. I am Tri'ade Nazarick and this is my apprentice, Narberal Gamma."

They both sat back down and the Mayor followed suit on a sofa across from them.

"Let me express both my King and I's profound thanks in saving his majesty's subjects and assisting Gazef Stronoff."

"Yes. Well, thank you but I didn't come here for more adulation and praise."

"Of course. I heard quite a few things from Gazef Stronoff while he stopped by with his men. That you are an adventurer not affiliated with the Adventurer Guild, and a traveler from a far off land."

"That is correct."

"Being a mayor of a city in a crossroads between nations I must say I have a fascination with faraway lands."

"Well, there is not much to tell really. I am originally from a land called Helheim which is very far to the north. It can get rather cold and dreary there so I traveled away from home at the first opportunity. I have been traveling ever since picking up traveling companions as I go and getting into fights along the way."

"Really interesting. Gazef said you were a magic caster but given your attire, I imagine a Priest of the Fire God?"

"Fire God? No, I follow the... God of Creation. My armor is something I have acquired in my travels."

"God of Creation?"

"I have learned not to discuss religion freely in my travels. But essentially, the God of Creation is just that mother and father to all things. Humanity and all other races, including monsters. Creator of all things good and the bad included."

"Not to offend, but I would think people would curse such a god."

Smiling to the Mayor, Tri'ade responded, "Yes, they do. It's why I figure he is not venerated more. But most people do not realize that for good to exist, evil must exist as well. A light cannot exist without casting a shadow. Something cannot be right without something else being wrong. You cannot know true happiness without experiencing sorrow. Our very eyes perceive the world as a dance of light and shadow. Reality cannot exist without contrast. Without it, the reality we live in is without form, without definition and without that, then what is existence really?"

"I never thought of it like that."

Tri'ade tilted his head to one side and rested it upon one of his fists.

"It is another reason why I like to travel. To see and learn more about this world of ours that is God's work. That said, faith alone cannot sustain you, so I was thinking of registering with the Adventurer Guild here in town to earn some money."

The Mayor chuckled nervously. "There isn't a way to convince you not to do that, is there?"

"Hmm?"

"Adventurers registered with the Guild must be independent of politics. I am sure my liege would be keen on acquiring your services as a retainer after hearing of your defeat of one of the Theocracy's Scriptures."

"Heh, I am afraid not. While what I have seen of your Kingdom is lovely, it would be difficult to give up the habits of a lifetime."

"I was afraid of that."

The two of them continued their conversation for a while longer while Narberal silently listened to the whole affair. Much to Tri'ade's relief considering half of what she had said up till this point were insults related to comparing people to insects. Eventually, however, the Mayor had other business to attend to and they were escorted out of the Mayoral Palace to go back into the city proper.

* * *

 **Afterword:**

That's it for this week. We'll continue where we left our "heroes" for Chapter 6: Adventure! I had difficulty figuring out where to properly end this chapter since there's no big epic battle or nightcap to hang the ole ending on so I wrote my largest chapter yet. Probably could have done it after Arthur left, or at the start with meeting the Mayor but given the checkpoint scene, it felt necessary to include that as well.

Anyways I got something extra for you all. Arthur's Character biography. I modeled it after the Overlord Wikipedia. Pity I have nowhere to post it myself but I'll try to keep it updated as his part in the story develops. I also developed a possible character sheet and settings for a certain NPC that might make an appearance later down the story but that is getting ahead of ourselves. You'll see it later when she makes an appearance.

Arthur Oreio Partouche

Age: 18

Gender Male

Race: Human

Affiliation: Sunlight Scripture/Slane Theocracy

Dominic Ihre Partouche (Nephew)

Occupation:

Vice-Captain of Sunlight Scripture (Former)

Spy of Nazarick.

Appearance:

Arhtur Oreio Partouche was a handsome man with fair features with short brown hair and blue eyes. He wears the traditional attire of the Sunlight Scripture without the head veil with his hair parted to the side.

Personality: Arthur is a kind hearted young man who grew up on stories of the Six Great Gods saving humanity from enslavement and annihilation at the hands of the other races. As a result of years of encouragement from his life in the Theocracy he also has a strong sense of duty to humanity and a natural prejudice against monstrous races.

Background: He was selected at a young age to begin training for the Sunlight Scripture due to his talent for magic. This was encouraged by his uncle Dominic Ihre Partouche who often visited him and his family on holidays. Arthur became Vice-Captain of the Sunlight Scripture after the death of the previous Vice-Captain in a failed demi-human purge exercise. The body of the previous Vice-Captain was too badly mutilated and decayed by the time they recovered the body to revive.

Chronology:

Chapter 1: Settling In.

Arthur was there when the Sunlight Scripture attacked Brook village in the days prior to the following attack on Carne's Village. He expressed his reservations about his mission to this captain and the conduct of the Captain of the soldiers responsible for the butchery. He was assured by his superior it was God's work they were doing but he kept his continued doubts to himself.

Chapter 4: Angels and Demons:

Vice Captain Arthur was there when Tri'ade Nazarick engaged the Sunlight Scripture in battle. Like the rest of his comrades his efforts were fruitless. He looked to his Captain for leadership in the trying battle and saw him fail unleashing his sacred trump card the sealing stone. He expressed surprise at Tri'ade claiming the power of a god and felt betrayed by his Captain's dismissing his worth to their enemy when all seemed lost.

Chapter 5: Revelations

Arthur became a prisoner of Nazarick and seemed to blame himself for the deaths of the villagers that the Theocracy soldiers butchered to draw out Gazef Stronoff. After the battle he began seeing Tri'ade, the one who defeated his comrades, as the one in the right defending the villagers and fully cooperated during his interrogation.

This led to Tri'ade singling him out from the rest of the prisoners and proposed to him to act as a spy for him under the pretense of investigating the Pontifex Maximus for ordering the Sunlight Scripture in its mission in the first place.

Arthur readily accepted and journeyed to E-Rantel with Tri'ade's party until he parted ways to go back to the Theocracy alone.

Abilities and Powers:

As Vice-Captain of the Sunlight Scripture he has an excellent grasp of divine magic casting and is capable of casting tier four spells and like all of them, could summon angels to act as meat-shields. However, that much is it. While he has had physical training and survival training as part of the Sunlight Scripture he is not skilled in martial arts as he was never expected to engage the enemy as such.


	8. Volume 2: Chapter 2: Adventurers

**Volume 2: Fire Lord, Chapter 2: Adventurers!**

 _*Proofread by PervySageChuck 1/01/19_

Two figures entered the Vulgar Worm Inn.

One was a towering figure wearing black armor with elaborate gold trim covering him from head to toe. The trim's exquisite pattern looked like golden flame frozen into place. Underneath the armored portions covering the man's extremities and upper torso, there was a dark purple robe covering him with a cowl over his head. The face would have been visible save for the golden mask the man wore which had six spokes pointing straight up. The only visible skin from the man was his neck and lower chin which had a dark stubble. A single large greatsword was slung over his back.

The other figure was a black haired beauty with a long flowing traveler's cloak around her with a blade at her hip. Her looks were so breathtaking that even the simple robe she wore looked like a luxurious gown.

Both of them wore copper plates around their necks signifying them as low ranked adventurers. It was Tri'ade Nazarick and Narberal Gamma who had just finished registering with the Adventurer's Guild. The Guild's secretary recommended that they stay at this shabby inn. To Tri'ade, it honestly looked like something that came out of an old western movie with its decor.

They both walked towards the Innkeeper who was serving as the bartender. The eyes of every patron were upon the two new arrivals as they walked up to him. Someone in the inn whispered, "Fire Lord."

Not even looking up from his business cleaning the bar counter the Innkeeper spoke, "Need a room? Five Copper pieces each for a shared room. Food is oatmeal, well some days it's leftover bread instead of oatmeal, and vegetables. If you want meat, that's a copper extra."

Raising his hand, Tri'ade answered, "I would prefer a single room for the two of us."

The Innkeeper snorted, "There are three inn's that serve adventurer's in this city. The bottom one is mine. You were introduced by the adventurer's guild, right? You know how I can tell?"

"Because all new adventurers are sent your way, I am assuming."

"That's right! You know why?! It's because everyone who stays here is either a copper plate or iron plate. It is the perfect place for greenhorns like you to get to know one another and form a proper team. If you don't form a well-balanced team you're just going to get yourselves killed when you face down a monster. Greenhorns who don't know anyone get themselves known by staying in a large room with others. So I'll ask again. Do you want a shared room or a two person room?"

"A two-person room. We don't need any meals."

The Innkeeper crossed his arms together. "Tch! I was just trying to be nice. Or are you saying your fancy armor isn't just for show?"

Shrugging it off he continued, "Well, whatever. One night for a two person is seven coppers, up front naturally."

Tri'ade gave the man his money and turned to leave for his room when a man at a nearby table moved his leg to get in his way. Paying him little mind he simply shoved his foot out of the way.

"Hey, that hurt!"

The man put on his metal gauntlets as he got up from the table and got into Tri'ade's face. It was then he noticed the Iron Plate around his neck.

"Then you shouldn't have put your leg there or have you drunk yourself stupid already?"

"Damn Bastard." The iron plate adventurer had a dangerous glint in his eyes, looking like he was ready for a fight but that stopped as his stare turned lecherously towards Narberal.

"You really piss me off, but hey, I am a nice guy. If you lend your lady to me for a night, I'll let you off the hook."

 _This bastard really takes the cake! First, he picks a fight then tries to fuck with one of my friend's creations?!_

["Telekinesis!"]

Not thinking clearly he lifts the adventurer up from the floor using the spell and angrily declared, "My apprentice is not a whore! She is not 'lent' to anyone."

He then flung the thuggish adventurer through the air and the man ended up crashing into one of the tables on the far side of the room. Tri'ade for his part had enough control left not to fling him through the wall. The woman at the table the thug landed on began screaming.

Tri'ade looked towards the thug's friends at his table who were just staring gobsmacked at what they just witnessed. "Is there anyone else stupid or drunk enough to pick a fight with me?"

They bowed their heads immediately and quickly replied, "How rude of our friend! Please, we apologize for him."

"Pay the innkeeper for this damn mess."

"Of course! We will take care of it."

Tri'ade sighed, realizing then how stupid it was for him to lose his temper. He just wanted to go to his room now and try to forget about it when someone behind him was yelling at him. "Hey, Hey, Hey!"

He turned around and got a better look at the woman coming over to him. She looked to be somewhere in her twenties and had blood red hair. While she had a natural beauty to Tri'ade, she definitely did not care for her own looks considering her disheveled hair and lack of makeup. Her muscular arms and iron plate around her neck definitely marked her as a warrior first and foremost.

"What is it now?"

"What? What do you mean what?! You threw that guy and broke my potion! What're you thinking, throwing around a huge fucking asshole like that in here?!"

"So what? It is just a potion."

"So what?! I skipped meals and scrimped and saved my money, all to buy that potion today. Today! And you went and broke it! I was trusting that potion to save my life on a dangerous adventure! Yet you're treating it so lightly! I am seriously pissed!"

She was staring daggers at him and had bloodshot eyes. If she was any madder, Tri'ade imagined she would have steam coming out of her head.

 _I guess potions are really expensive to make here._

Raising both of his hands up Tri'ade tried to calm the raging redhead, "Fine, fine. What do you say I give you one of my potions to make it even?"

He took out a potion of minor healing out of his belt pouch, doing so to try to avoid people seeing the black hole his hand reaching into his real inventory went through while in it.

"You wanted a potion of healing right? Then here it is."

She gave it a questioning look before taking it. "Okay, I guess."

Tir'ade looked back at the Innkeeper and said. "This is why I don't take shared rooms. Let's go Narberal."

Once the two of them left, the Inn bustled into activity. The patrons were vigorously talking to each other while the thuggish adventurer's friends were tending to his injuries.

"So that guy's actually as tough as he looks, huh?"

"Yeah, that spell sent that guy flying. I wonder what kind of training he's had?"

"He must be some kind of priest given his equipment. But I've never seen a priest do something like that!"

"Don't priests call their students acolytes or something? He called the woman he was with his apprentice."

"Doesn't matter! It's another guy who seems like he could knock us all flying at once."

Their conversations had conveyed admiration, and awe at what they had just witnessed but also envy. All the adventurers here were friends more or less but also rivals in the business they were in. Everyone knew just by looking at Tri'ade's armor that he was unlikely to have been a greenhorn but sometimes adventurers could acquire magical armor in ruins that belied their true skills. Hence the test by the apparently thuggish adventurer to provoke a confrontation to see for themselves his mettle.

The conversations the patrons were having turned a corner after realizing the pair's strength on how they should be treated now and prospects of recruiting them. This got into heated debates as the Innkeeper and Brita discussed their own business regarding the potion Tri'ade gave her.

Meanwhile upstairs in their room, Tri'ade and Narberal situated themselves in their room in the inn. Like the inn itself, it was... rustic and the window had a wonderful view of a neighboring building. It would have been dark to them in the room if both of them didn't have dark-vision. Tri'ade moved to close the window to grant them some privacy when he heard Narberal speak up behind him.

"Lord Tri'ade, you shouldn't have to stay in such a small and disgusting place."

Turning towards her, he lit one the wall lantern's in the room to provide some light. "I've stayed in worse places before."

He sat down on one of the two beds in the small, spartan room they were in and touched one of the pillows. "They have clean sheets and feather pillows. It's basic but serviceable. Besides, we do not have much of the local currency and I'd rather not spend it on a room we will hardly ever use."

"I see. What are we going to do with the woman who took your potion?"

"Nothing for now. Pressing the matter to get the potion back now would likely do more harm than good. I am more concerned about what you think of humans. Tell me your thoughts on them."

"They're complete garbage."

 _Ugh. I was afraid of that. Seriously, this might become a problem if every one of my minions has such hatred of humans._

Tri'ade issued a long sigh before asking her, "Tell me, why are they garbage?"

"They're pathetically weak creatures."

"Weak compared to what?"

"Everything, Lord."

"Really? The humans seem to be in a stronger position than the monsters of this world. They live in huts while the humans build cities."

"They are weak. I could break them in an instant."

"Of course they're weak to you. You were created to fight by Supreme Beings. I think you fail to appreciate that fact."

This managed to fluster Narberal Gamma and she genuflected immediately before him. "No, my lord! I give thanks to the Supreme Beings for creating me every day."

"You didn't earn your strength, you were given it. You would be no better than them if you were not blessed by your creator's work."

He got up and moved closer to the genuflecting Narberal Gamma. "You're hatred is misguided. You are like a child born to wealth looking down on those born to poverty. Worse, it could compromise our mission here. You need to learn to restrain your hatred and your blood-lust, understood?"

"Understood, my lord. I will try."

He gave Narberal Gamma his hand and lifted her up. Their eyes met. "You'll need to do more than try. You will be approached by many humans. Know why?"

"They're fools."

Chuckling, he then lifted Narberal's hand to his lips to give it a little kiss. "No, its because you are beautiful. They are drawn to you."

Narberal looked up to him with blushing red cheeks and she said meekly, "My Lord?"

 _Cute. She can be cute. I didn't think it was possible after all the venom coming out of her mouth today_. Tri'ade was hesitant to let go of Narberal's hand but he eventually did.

He did a fake cough to try to compose himself. "Tell me Narberal, do you have any experience in dealing with suitors?"

Still a bit red in the cheeks, she shook her head. "No, my Lord. I usually stayed with my sisters on the 9th floor."

 _Sisters? Does she mean the other battle maids?_ Focusing, Tri'ade continued with Narberal.

"Understandable, but given that you'll likely encounter suitors we should go over some basic rules of etiquette in such situations."

 _I need to make sure she doesn't kill or maim some of these guys._

He took off his mask and gauntlets laying them upon the bed. "Now you already experienced the hand kiss. It's what most gentlemen suitors do to greet the woman of their interest. It's normal for a woman to accept this kiss on their hand even if they do not like their suitors. If they do not they usually respond with some verbal retort to the suitor's attempt at flattery."

He grabbed Narberal's hand again but didn't take it to his lips this time. "However there is a form of hand kissing that is reserved for both genders in formal environments in many societies. It's meant to convey courtesy, admiration, and devotion but not romantic interest like the former."

He brought Narberal's hand near his lips this time but they didn't touch her hand. He also lowered his head to meet the hand so he didn't yank her arm up this time. "See? Do not confuse the two. Now you try." Offering his hand out to Narberal, she who took it and kissed his hand but to his surprise, her lips touched his hands and he sighed thinking that she had confused the two gestures.

"Anyways, I doubt you'll need to worry about this form of greeting unless we go to the Royal Capital. With these drunk adventurers, you're more likely to get slapped on the ass. It's a common enough thing for drunk men to do. Do you know what to do if that happens?"

Narberal gave a stern expression and coldly replied, "Cut off the insect's hand."

"Eh?! No! No! Outright violence in public is not allowed. The appropriate response to unwanted physical contact is to berate them or slap them back on the cheek. Enough to hurt but not to injure."

"As you wish, my lord. I will try not to injure the bothersome maggots."

Sighing with a smile, Tri'ade exclaimed, "Such is your lot in life to be bothered by men. You were made to be deadly and to be an object of desire. Why do you think nearly all the servants on the 9th floor are lovely maids?"

A surprised look came on her face, "My lord?"

"Whitebrim loved pretty girls in maid outfits. His passion infected the rest of us in our creation of you and your sisters. Considering the ninth floor was never set upon by intruders your visual appeal was an important part of your service to us."

Tri'ade was reminded of the old days back when Ainz Ooal Gown was still new. Whitebrim would always say outrageous things like "Maid Uniforms are Justice!" and talk about the heroine of his manga he was making who was a magical girl maid. He never understood how that could work given the whole maid-master dynamic but he dismissed it as just something that was possible given Whitebrim's obsession.

Snapping back from his trip to nostalgia, he heard Narberal ask, "Why then…?"

"Huh?"

"Why then is the only form I can take is that of those pathetic humans?"

 _Of course, they would think this way... Ainz Ooal gown was a non-human guild. All their precious Supreme Being creators were anything but human in their minds. But we still were and that influenced how we made them. How do I explain this?_

He facepalmed as he heard Narberal Gamma ask the question as she hurried to explain herself, "I do not mean to sound ungrateful, my lord..."

Raising his hand up to hush her, Tri'ade responded, "No, no. Given your animosity towards humans, it makes sense. I mean, your sisters all have a humanoid form as well."

Tri'ade leaned his back against the wall. "I explained some of this to the Guardians but do you know of the Terrans?" Narberal shaking her head gave Tri'ade all the answer he needed.

"Well, in short, Terrans created YGGDRASIL and everything within it, including the various races within it. I and the other Supreme Beings are Terrans. We created avatars, bodies to inhabit as a means to interact with our creations. The reason why you have a human looking form and the maids on the ninth floor are mostly human looking is simple... Terrans in our original bodies look like humans."

"What?!"

"So it's less of you having a human form and more of a Terran one."

"I see..." Narberal Gamma looked visibility relieved upon hearing this.

 _A lie of sorts but true enough. It's not like humans from YGGDRASIL are like humans from earth. They can acquire superhuman skills and abilities. If she knew that her creators were even more pathetic than these humans…_

"I can understand your disgust with humans. They're flawed creations. The first race my people made but its only with practice one can perfect skills. Making a facsimile of something you know is easier than an original creation."

"Is that why some humans are so much stronger than others? Like those who invaded the Great Tomb?"

 _Is she referencing when the eight guild alliance that invaded and almost_ penetrated _the_ 8th-floor _defenses? Must be_ …

"Yes. Those were other Terrans like me who chose to use human avatars. However, their avatars were made to be superior to regular humans. That means you must not underestimate humans. While they may look pathetic, some of them might be of that superior make or are descendants of those... superhumans."

"Understood, my lord. I will do my best not to. However, there is still something I do not understand. Why would anyone choose to be human?"

"Sentimentality. Humans are our first creations who we molded into our image after all."

 _In truth though, those fuckers were just un-creative morons who wanted to play the human hero fighting against monsters. If you can literally be anything, why be something you already are? I mean I loved playing the villainous asshole in-game cause I never wanted to be one in real life._

Bowing down, Narberal genuflected her head down to the floor. "Thank you, my lord, for taking the time to enlighten me, your ignorant servant."

Tri'ade waved his hand to motion Narberal to rise. "Yes, yes! There have been enough explanations. You should know why we need to step carefully here and why we must become adventurers to gather information on the human nations around us. It's only among adventurers that our strength is plausible for humans to believe we are their kind."

He got up from the bed and put his mask back on. "Now, let's find us a quest!"

* * *

 **Floor Six of the Great Tomb of Nazarick**

Back on the 6th floor of the Great Tomb, two figures were in the arena. One was a hulking insectoid with four limbs armed with a single katana the other was a Naga with a spear. It was Cocytus and Siska and they were "training" in the arena. Cocytus was training Siska here because the cold of his domain would serve the cold-blooded Naga poorly and he figured since his master selected the arena for his own practice area it was the perfect spot for it. However, the training was hardly going well. All Cocytus was doing was parrying the strikes at this point. Siska had tried to use what offensive spells she knew as a cleric against Cocytus, but all to no effect. So they focused on melee combat. A small scatter of smeared blood was visible on the arena floor from the last time Cocytus struck back, severing one of her hands. Siska was continuing on thanks to her ability to heal it using her spells but she was drenched in sweat by continually moving and thrusting to try to strike Cocytus to no avail.

Panting, Siska began using her spear to prop herself up. "This is pointless. I am never going to hit you."

Cocytus puffed out a bellow of cold air from his nose responding. "Not the point. You are improving."

"Is that why you cut my hand off?"

He put one of his hands on the back of his head and avoided eye contact with Siska. "Apologies. My own training kicked in. I am not used to training others."

A hoarse laugh came from Siska seeing the monstrous warrior who cleaved off her hand earlier acting so meek. "It's alright. Clearly, you having trouble holding back. If I am to fight anyone shouldn't I fight someone else?"

"Only skeletons from first floor but they are no challenge for you alone. Would need to swarm you to provide a challenge but that is dangerous."

"Nonsense, Cocytus. We can have Shalltear revive her should she die. She would be in no permanent danger unless she is too weak for even that." Albedo, the Guardian Overseer came into view walking onto the arena floor. She had a devious smile on her face. "I can arrange for the first-floor skeletons to be prepared quickly."

"Thank you for you offer, Overseer. I shall consider it."

"Anyways Cocytus, that is enough training for today. It is time for her reading lessons. Siska, come with me."

Cocytus did a bow to Albedo and Siska slithered beside her. Through the portal in the Arena and elsewhere Albedo led her to the Grand Library of Ashurbanipal. Siska had been frightened of the number of elder liches in this library when she first arrived, but she had gotten used to the fact she was living in a place of absurdly powerful beings. They came to an Elder Lich with an armband with the name "Librarian J" on it.

"Librarian J, this is Siska, your new student. The Supreme Being would like you to try to teach it how to read Japanese if you can."

Siska tried her best to be polite and bowed to the undead monstrosity that would be teaching her. "A pleasure to meet you, Librarian J."

"Oh, it is indeed a pleasure. It is rare that I get to be called upon to fulfill a direct order of one of the Supreme Beings nowadays. We'll start with the very basics today with learning your letters and work our way up."

"Your escort will bring you here from today on for your daily lessons. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to." Albedo left the Lich and Siska in the room alone.

Siska's stomach growled loudly to her embarrassment. "Apologies. It seems my combat training left me with a bit of an appetite. Would you mind if we started after I got something to eat?"

"Of course. One cannot learn on an empty stomach. I'll contact Pestonya for you. It'll give me time to assemble some learning materials anyway."

Librarian J left Siska and she just slumped into one of the chairs in the Library. She was enjoying the break but a thought nagged her mind.

 _What a weird and wonderful place this is. I would never have thought to meet a friendly Lich._

* * *

 **E-Rantel Adventurer's Guild**

Tri'ade and Narberal were in front of the notice board in the guild hall. the hall itself was rather spartan with large wooden benches in the center of the room and the first floor consisting mostly of some sort of stone or brick walls. The wooden superstructure including the stairs to the second floor appeared to be made from the same dark brown wood the benches were made from.

Its sparse appearance seemed justified to Tri'ade considering how packed it was inside the Adventurer's Guild. A multitude of adventuring teams were inside the guild-hall making the area somewhat cramped for his tastes.

They were kitted fairly sparsely as well. Even those he could recognize as warriors or tanks in the parties were equipped at most with some manner of half plate or banded mail. Everyone else was practically in their regular clothes with some additional combat accessories besides the few wearing some kind of leather armor. Tri'ade wondered if most of them couldn't afford decent armor or if the heaviest armor was only worth a tinker's damn fighting monsters.

Regardless, he stood out like a sore thumb. Which was originally his plan to garner attention to draw people towards him and to foster his reputation, but he definitely overestimated the people of this world.

After seeing how well equipped and standardized the common Imperial Knight was supposed to be he guessed it left a false impression upon him. And just like at the inn, several of the adventurers marveled at his armor and some thought he was a Fire God Priest. A few of them had even already heard rumors of how he saved Carne Village and mocked the bureaucracy of the Guild issuing them copper plates if it were true.

He ignored the gossiping adventurers for now, to focus on "reading" the adventurer notices in front of him. They were written in the kingdom's script which Tri'ade had no knowledge of. It didn't even look remotely like any of the alphabets he knew. The closest letter that looked anything remotely similar were two that looked like an upside down and turned around "e" and a simple "k."

Tri'ade was using a tier one spell Comprehend Languages to translate the text but it took nearly a full minute to translate just one of the notices. The spell required him to trace the words with his fingers like a blind man reading braille. He thanked god he bothered learning this spell because without it he probably wouldn't have passed the literacy test the Guild had adventurers take for entry. But he was growing frustrated on how long it took him to read.

 _I'll need to learn to read this damn script some day. It would be nice if all the places in this world used it but I doubt it. Trouble is, who could I get to teach me?_

Most of the notices he had read were for adventurers above his rank but he noticed a few that were copper plate level and he was not too surprised at what they asked for. It was basically pest extermination like eliminating giant rats and a literal fetch quest of retrieving a magical broom from another city to take back to E-Rantel. Payouts for them were valued at a few hundred copper pieces at most.

Sighing, Tri'ade put his hand upon his mask and tried to think up what to do next. He had hoped that saving Carne Village would have opened a few doors and bypassed the beginning ranks of adventurer quickly. But the Guild-Master said they needed to take time to investigate the matter before promoting him. If he was alone he probably would have sucked it up and did a few copper plate quests like killing giant rats but he didn't want to imagine Narberal's reaction to her master doing such a menial job.

He kept reading the notices, trying to find something else but they were mostly the same kind of quests. Tri'ade was about to give up and take one of the copper notices when a young adventurer with short blonde hair approached him. The young man was flanked by three others, all with blond hair except for the short, brunette one with a staff. They had silver plates around their necks indicating their status as a silver ranked adventuring party.

"Having trouble finding a good job? Then, would you like to help us with ours?"

 _Yes! A way out of this situation!_

Tri'ade responded calmly, "I would need to know more."

The young man leading the group nodded. "Fair enough. Let us go upstairs to discuss the details where it is less noisy."

They then both went up the stairs and sat at the long table on the second floor with the adventurers on one side and Tri'ade on the other.

The young man leading the other group introduced himself first. "I am the leader of the Swords of Darkness, Peter Mauk." Motioning over to another young man at the end of the table, he continued, "And this is the team's eyes and ears, the ranger Lukrut Volve."

Lukrut smiled over to Narberal and waved to her. "Hi!"

Peter continued on, ignoring Lukrut and pointing over to the older blond man with a full beard. "This guy deals in healing magic and the manipulation of nature, the druid Dyne Woodwonder." Being introduced, Dyne smiled and nodded at Tri'ade. "Nice to meet you."

Then Peter introduced the last of his team, "And lastly, this is our magic caster and the brains of our team, Ninya the Spell Caster."

Ninya nodded and said, "Nice to meet you."

Looking up to Peter, Ninya, with an embarrassed look said to him, "But Peter, can you stop it with the embarrassing nickname?"

"Huh, why not?"

Lakrut leaning over on the table said to Tri'ade, "This guy is a talent holder."

 _A talent holder? Those born with supernatural talents._

Not saying anything, Tri'ade thought on what he had gathered about talent holders in this world from the sunlight scripture. Apparently, some people were born with supernatural talents that augment their abilities like Captain Nigun whose summons were stronger than others of the same level.

Peter explained proudly, "He has the talent, Magical Affinity. It takes him half the time to learn magic than a person normally would need."

"So you're a magical prodigy," Tri'ade responded, unsure what to make of learning magic. Back in YGGDRASIL you simply farmed for exp in your classes and chose what spells to get as you leveled up. Sure you could get new spell options from some special abilities like Dark Ritual or read rare spell books but they basically gave you the spell nearly instantly. Given the way Peter proudly proclaimed Ninya's talent, Tri'ade had to assume it was difficult learning new spells.

"It's not such a big deal. It's just happened I was born with a magical talent. It was really just luck that I was born with this power. It helped me take the first step in realizing my dreams. If I didn't have my power, I'd have ended up as some crummy villager." his last utterances were gloomy.

Attempting to brighten the mood, Peter spoke in a cheerful mood, "So humble! Anyhow, he's a famous talent holder in the city."

"Still, there's someone way more famous than me here."

"You mean the leader of Blue Rose?"

"No, I meant someone more famous than me in this city."

Dyne Woodwonder spoke up in a calm stoic voice, "You must be talking about Master Bareare.

"Who?" Tri'ade responded with a certain amount of unfurled curiosity at this point. However, the Swords of Darkness just looked surprised at his ignorance.

Lukrut chimed in after getting a look like a light turned above his head. "I see! So our not having heard of you before now despite your magnificent armor and your beautiful companion means you're not from around here?"

"That is one way to put it. We only arrived in this city recently."

"Ah, then you wouldn't know, huh? He's quite famous here, but I guess word of him hasn't spread to other cities."

"Well, I am a bit of a wanderer. I haven't been in the Kingdom for long. So can't say I know much about how things are around these parts. Would you mind telling me about this Bareare fellow?"

Peter answered. "Really? Well, Nfirea Bareare is the grandson of a famous apothecary here. His talent allows him to use any and all magic items without the normal restrictions."

 _Seriously? That sounds overpowered. I was thinking talents were like first level feats you could get in some games. Does that mean he could use the Staff of Ainz Ooal Goal and World Items? How far does it go?_

Narberal leaned over to his ear and whispered warily, "This guy could be dangerous."

He whispered back, "Or useful."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. I suppose it's our turn to introduce ourselves. I am Tri'ade Nazarick and this is Narberal Gamma. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Likewise, we should make a good team. Tri'ade, feel free to call us by our first names. Now, I don't mean to hurry us along, but I'd like to get down to business. Not that it's a real job per se as we aim to hunt monsters that pop up near town."

"So we're going grinding."

"Is that what you call it? Yes, we are going to hunt monsters and get rewarded by the city based on how strong they are."

"If you want to make a living, it has to be done," the druid, Dyne, solemnly noted.

Chiming in, Lukrut responded somewhat more cheerfully, "We get to eat. Things are less dangerous for everyone else. It's a win-win situation!"

"Nowadays, any country with guilds has this system, but it's surprising because even just five years ago it wasn't like that," Ninya said, and his companions nodded nostalgically.

 _Makes sense and I doubt monsters here just spawn data crystals or the like so adventurers normally wouldn't have the incentive to go on grinding missions like we did in YGGDRASIL. It probably got pretty damn bad on the roads at times._

"Really? Kinda new to the guild but Lords or Mayors typically paid out for grinding expeditions. Granted things typically needed to get bad on the roads before they bothered posting a notice." Tri'ade replied, trying to make small talk and get more information from the group.

Responding to Tri'ade, Peter answered, "Yeah, that's how it used to be before. People die and trade had to grind to a halt before the authorities decide to act. It was only thanks to the Golden Princess's reforms."

"Love live the Golden Princess, right?" Lukrut exclaimed.

Curious about this Golden Princess, Tri'ade asked, "Is it normal for a Princess to be able to push such reforms in the Kingdom?"

Ninya answered, "Oh, no. It isn't. Many of her proposals get shot down in the Royal Diet. Only landed nobles get a vote there. They can be stubborn, but sometimes enough of them see enough sense in her ideas."

Dyne interjected, "I heard her proposal for monster bounties ran into some setbacks. They had to get rid of the part where the foot tax for adventurers was abolished."

Turning his eyes to Dyne, their leader said, "Still, it's amazing she thought so highly of us."

 _This Golden Princess certainly sounds nice. I wonder how pretty is she? A voluptuous blond like Solution maybe?_ "She certainly does sound like a wonderful princess," Tri'ade said nonchalantly, trying to hide his true thoughts.

Lukrut exclaimed. "Oh yes! I hope one day to marry a lady that gorgeous!"

"You got a lot of work to do if your hoping to join the ranks of the nobles!" responded Peter who smiled at his comrade.

"No, No way, no way. That stiff, formal life ain't for me."

"Oh, c'mon, it'd be great to be a noble! It's established by the country that you get to screw over the people and do whatever you want!" Ninya said sarcastically with a bitter smile.

"Yikes! Always with the harsh words! You hate the nobles as usual, huh?"

"I know that some of them are honest people, but... as someone whose older sister was abducted by those pigs, I just can't..."

Thinking out loud Tri'ade said, "Yeah, the nobles here are pretty corrupt from what I've seen. A few of them apparently even plotted against the Chief Warrior to try to get him killed."

"What?!" Peter said and the Swords of Darkness looked at him with shocked surprise.

 _I need to keep this vague and to the point. Can't let on too much._

"Right, I guess you guys haven't heard about it yet. But a few villages were attacked by people posing as Imperial Knights. Some nobles prevented Gazef from riding out with his best equipment. The whole thing turned out to be a trap set by the Slane Theocracy."

"You mean the Royal Treasures..." Dyne replied stoically with a stern expression on his face.

Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Peter asked, "How did you hear about this?"

"We happened to be nearby Carne Village when the knights started attacking. After managing to defeat them, Gazef showed up with a Theocracy unit on his tail that surrounded the village. There was no escape for any of us besides smashing through them."

Tri'ade pointed his thumb to his chest and puffed it out. "Bastards were prepared to face the Warrior Select busy fighting their fake knights. But they weren't prepared for us to ruin their trap so we made them pay for their attack on the villagers."

"Amazing." Ninya stared at Tri'ade with a bit of awe, his bitter smile wiped from his face after hearing the tale.

"Incredible! It's little wonder you can afford such equipment fighting on such a level." Peter continued, a bit embarrassed, "After that story, it feels wrong to ask someone like you to help us with our job."

"You're doing me a favor actually. The Guild refuses to promote me to anything beyond copper plate. I was about to swallow my pride and do a giant rat extermination job before you came."

Laughing Lukrut said, "That's ridiculous. What is the Guild-master thinking? You guys should be Mythril plate at least.

"Well, the attack happened recently so they are still investigating it. Plus the knights and the theocracy unit were all humans."

"Still..."

Narberal was smiling silently beside Tri'ade as he leaned in to speak, "Regardless, I think our discussion kinda ran off track. We would, of course, be glad to join you for your hunt if you would have us."

"Of course we would."

The members of the Swords of Darkness smiled happily but stopped when Tri'ade spoke, "Since we'll be working together I should do you the courtesy of showing my face."

Tri'ade took off his golden mask and hood revealing what he looked like. He had, of course, used illusion magic to hide his protruding horns and the red glow of his eyes so to the adventurers, he didn't look like a typical demon.

"So you're an elf. Makes sense you hide your face given how the Theocracy and Empire enslave elves."

"Right. It does make travel in the human realms easier."

"Are you from the Elf Kingdom?"

 _The Elf Kingdom? What a generic name…_

"No, I can't say that I am. Frankly, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. Been traveling for such a long time, killing monsters to get by, that the road is more home to me than anywhere else."

Tri'ade put his hood and mask back on. "If we're going hunting together, we should get any questions out of the way ahead of time. What's your plan for this trip, Peter?"

Peter proceeded to explain the specifics of the plan to hunt straggling goblins near the southern forests. Apparently in this world, goblins were stupid and would attack anyone they outnumbered so it was easy to lure them out. They would avoid going into the forest proper because of the dangers of getting ambushed. A sensible precaution, Tri'ade thought considering they didn't have a team of invisible demons scouting around him for threats at all times like he did. It seemed sound enough so Tri'ade simply listened to Peter and nodded in approval. They also decided to split the profits evenly between the two groups taking into account Tri'ade's team's apparent strength. "With that settled, anything any of you wish to ask us before we get going?"

"Yes!" A hand flew up into the air and it was Lukrut's. With no one raising theirs, he loudly threw a question at Narberal. "What exactly is the relationship between you two?"

Looking over at Narberal, Tri'ade hesitated before answering while turning to look at Lukrut. "To put it simply, she is my apprentice."

Narberal's face softened as she looked at her Master. A look that immediately hardened when Lukrut spoke while getting up from his chair, bowing and extending his hand out to her's. "I am in love! I am in love with your raven-haired apprentice! It was love at first sight! Please go out with me!"

Everyone stared in shock at Lukrut, expecting it was a bad joke. However, seeing it was serious, they turned their gaze onto Narberal who sighed before replying, "Shut up, slug. Talk to me once you know your place, otherwise, I'll rip out your tongue."

Bowing, Laukrut didn't miss a beat replying, "Thank you very much for that intense rejection! Let's start out as friends!"

"Drop dead, maggot. As if I'd be your friend!"

Going back to his chair, Lukrut leaned over blushing and muttering to himself. "That cold gaze of hers is so... " Before he could finish, Peter elbowed him against the back of his head to knock some sense into him. "Sorry for my friend's rudeness."

"I am sorry as well."

"Okay, no one else has any questions?" Peter addressed the group, with no one responding. "Then let's head out once you are ready. We are already prepared to go."

Tri'ade was reminded of the fact that he hadn't bothered to buy any food or drink due to not needing any. However, it would be suspicious if they never ate anything during their hunt.

"We just need to get some food for the journey. Then we'll be set."

"If that's all, the desk can set you up with some non-perishables fairly quickly."

As they both began walking down the stairs to the lobby of the Guild Hall, the receptionist was waiting for them at the bottom. "Mr. Tri'ade."

"What is it?"

"You have been requested for a specific job."

He immediately felt the unbridled stares of nearly everyone in the Guildhall after she had said this. The Swords of Darkness also seemed surprised.

 _Who in the hell would request me? The Mayor? Gazef?_

"By who?"

"Mr. Nfirea Bareare." Gasps of surprise could be heard among the adventurers at the mention of the name. The receptionist motioned with her hand to her side and a blond haired boy walked out among the crowd that had gathered. The boy had long hair which obstructed his eyes and as he walked forward closer to Tri'ade ,Narberal leaped in front of him. Her hand on the hilt of her blade ready to attack as if the boy posed an immediate danger to Tri'ade.

Tri'ade sighed at her overblown reaction but accepted it as part of her own ignorance. He calmly put a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. "Relax. He won't try anything here." She blushed at having her master's face come so close to hers. "Yes, Master" This reminded Tri'ade immediately of how she reacted to being called beautiful earlier.

 _Are all my female servants attracted to me like Shalltear is? That blob Painkill was flirty as well._ That last thought sent a chill down his spine as Nfirea began introducing himself. "Nice to meet you. I am the one who requested for you."

"Right. This is hardly the best place to hold a discussion. Would you mind coming upstairs to discuss your proposal with me and the Swords of Darkness?"

"What? You want us in your meeting?"

"I already agreed to go with you on your hunt, Peter. Depending on what type of job Mr. Bareare has in mind, we might be able to do both. If not, I would rather do your job since I had agreed to it first."

"But Tri'ade, he's requesting you!"

"Honoring my word is more important."

Nfirea casually began walking closer. "I don't mind discussing it upstairs with all of you."

With that settled, everyone went upstairs again and they sat where they were before. However, this time Nfirea Bareare stood near the window by the side of the table and began speaking.

"The woman from the reception desk mentioned my name before, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nfirea Bareare. I am an apothecary in this city. As for my request, I'm planning to go to a nearby forest, but as you know, the forest is a dangerous place. So I'd like you to escort me but also, if possible, help me collect medicinal herbs."

"An escort mission, huh?" _I hate escort missions but I guess since this guy isn't a stupid AI he wouldn't get himself killed so easily... but as this isn't a game there's no reloading and resurrecting him would be problematic._

Continuing on, Bareare said, "Compensation would be a fixed amount given to you once we get back to E-Rantel."

"Before we discuss further details, can I ask a few questions?" Nfirea smiled and nodded. "Wouldn't it be better given your task to hire a group like the Swords of Darkness? Why did you ask for me? I only arrived in town recently."

"Well, I am not in the habit of hiring entire teams for this. My old hire left E-Rantel to go to a different city. I also heard about the incident at the inn from a customer who came to my shop. You defeated an adventurer a rank above you in the blink of an eye."

"Makes sense." _Wait. A customer to his shop told him about me... Could it be that red-head got my potion appraised? She was looking at it weird._

Nfirea joked, "Plus, copper-plate adventurers cost less, right? I'd like it if we could work together for some time."

He laughed a bit and replied, "Of course. Still, I would recommend taking the Swords of Darkness along with us. Having a druid and ranger with us would be invaluable for a mission into the forest."

"Yes, you possess a keen insight, Mr. Tri'ade," the usually stoic Dyne said with some pride in his voice.

Raising his hand, Lukrut said, "I wouldn't mind tagging along."

"We can hunt any monsters that show up along the way for a reward in the city and split Mr. Bareare's compensation by simple headcount. If that is alright with you, Peter?"

"Sounds great to me. The Swords of Darkness would be glad to accompany you both."

Nfirea agreed to this as well. "More men equals more protection for me. I am looking forward to working with all of you. Oh, and you can call me Nfirea."

With those details sorted out, Nfirea began discussing the finer details of the plan to go to Carne Village and then head into the forest to gather herbs along with other preparations. A lot more questions were asked of Nifera from both Tri'ade and the Swords but when they began to peter off, Nfirea raised his voice, "Then, let us get ready and be off!"

* * *

 **Afterword**

It took me nearly a month and working to the end of the day this Sunday but I made this last deadline at least. Been busy with work, and too distracted to devote a lot of time to this chapter. I had some difficulty writing this one cause I disliked how similar to the original work it was becoming and did my best to have Tri'ade react in his own way without derailing the plot too much. It was also interesting finding a way to write dialogue for a conversation essentially involving five people at once. As the plot progresses I'd like to include more slice of life/character development parts in future chapters like I did with Siska in this one.

Originally I had the chapter end planned for when they got back to E-Rantel after fighting goblins etc. but the length was getting long and my self imposed deadline was looming. I probably would have continued working on this chapter for another week or two if I did that. It also didn't help daylight savings time robbing me of an hour today. Anyways, see you in two weeks hopefully, but no promises.


	9. Volume 2: Chapter 3: Journey

_**Volume 2: Fire Lord, Chapter 3: Journey**_

On a well-worn dirt road, a small wagon was slowly being pulled along by a single horse. It was empty save for Nfirea Bareare who held the reins. Surrounding this wagon walked a group of six. It was the Swords of Darkness and Tri'ade's group of course. Lukrut and Dyne took the point in front of the wagon while Ninya and Peter flanked it. Tri'ade and Narberal took up the rear.

It was grasslands as far as the eye could see with the occasional tree on their right while the Forest of Tob loomed in sight on their left-hand side. They had been walking a long way from E-Rantel on foot. It had been several hours already with absolutely nothing happening and Tri'ade was slowly beginning to appreciate teleportation magic more. Granted he didn't feel tired at all thanks to his strength but it was fairly boring.

Back in YGGDRASIL if he did any long stretches of grinding monsters or travel he would bring up his in-game music playlist to listen to something. But here in this New World, there was nothing like or at least he didn't know how to access it if it did. The only sounds were those of nature with the windswept plains of grass and the birds occasionally chirping their songs.

It was a lovely sight, for the first couple of hours. Thinking on it as he walked music was probably the only thing he truly missed from his old life. It was probably for the best though. He spent the time talking to either Peter or Ninya about various subjects. He had to be careful what he asked, but it was a good source of information.

The road they were on eventually came near a river bank where Nfirea suggested to Peter they stop and rest a bit. They brought the wagon near the river where Nfirea took his horse to drink from the running water. Tri'ade and the rest of the group either sat upon some rocks or on the ground to rest their feet for a bit.

After he finished looking around, Peter said to the group, "Enjoy this. Things will get a little dangerous from here on out."

"We'll be fine as long as we don't get ambushed," Tri'ade remarked frankly.

"That won't happen with me around. I am the best set of eyes and ears this side of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Don't be shy Narberal, you can praise me."

Narberal merely sighed and rolled her eyes at Lukrut's latest efforts.

 _This guy sure is persistent._

Lukut took Narberal's silence in stride. "It's okay, gorgeous. I know you're stunned in awe of me." The Swords of Darkness laughed awkwardly at this.

Nfirea, probably wanting to change the subject said, "You know what I just realized? We're in the Wise King of the Forest's territory."

"The Wise King of the Forest?" _Wait, why does that sound familiar... They couldn't mean._

"It's a very old and powerful creature. At least that's what the legends say. Not only can it cast magic but it's physically strong. It's said to be a silver four-legged beast with the tail of a snake."

Tri'ade was a bit gobsmacked hearing this, he didn't expect to hear from others that the giant hamster was a supposedly legendary creature of the forest. He inquired further about the Wise King of the Forest but it seemed to vaguely fit Hamsuke's general description albeit with exaggerations.

 _That hamster might be more useful than he first appeared. If I bring him back to E-Rantel it should give the Guild enough reason to promote me beyond a mere copper plate._

Trying to turn the conversation into something else, he asked Peter about Martial Arts. It was something they had already talked about after Tri'ade and Narberal demonstrated their ability to use Tier three spells. They were shocked at his ability to use armor and spells at the same time and he acted the same when Peter first demonstrated his martial art techniques. So they just chalked it up to Tri'ade being a foreigner. After that, Tri'ade had been pestering Peter with questions regarding martial arts.

"Exactly how much force can the Fortress martial art negate?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"To repel an attack it must be met with equal force. I'm assuming Fortress somehow generates a force to repel the opponent's attack from the warrior using it. If that's true wouldn't there be some upper limit to what you can block? Has Fortress ever failed to repel an attack?"

"That's a scary thought. No, I never had it fail on me. If it did, I probably would be dead."

Tri'ade thought on that for a while. It could be Peter just never had an opponent over-match him so much in strength for it to be possible. Then again things like his Invulnerability field existed so it definitely could be feasible for Fortress to be a temporary invulnerability to physical attacks.

Part of him wanted to call "HAX!" on the Fortress Martial Art if it could enable a warrior like Peter to block his attacks. Another part of him wanted to learn it. He wondered if it would be possible for him to learn any martial arts. The level cap in YGGDRASIL was one hundred and the enemies here were so pathetically weak he doubted they warranted much exp on their own. But he was ninety percent full on his exp bar at the end of the game. Hell, this is an entirely new skill not even from YGGDRASIL it might even be possible to learn them without grinding for experience.

It's definitely a skill worth investigating in depth. He would have to consider methods to acquire suitable test subjects later and Tri'ade couldn't test it out with Peter with the circumstances being what they are.

There was also the matter of where exactly Martial Arts originated from. Tri'ade had lingering doubts that Martial Arts originated from another reality other than YGGDRASIL. If that was the case then this world was remarkably unstable. That would make this world, this reality remarkably easy to travel to. The barriers could be weaker or something might be drawing things from other realities into it.

Tri'ade shook his head in frustration. He had far too little information, he was wildly speculating on this again. The anomaly and the ramifications of it made this world absurdly dangerous despite his power in it. As long as its nature eluded him and he had no control over it this would always be a grave threat to him. The very rules of reality could change on a whim or a foe even more powerful than him could arrive without warning.

There was nothing he could do but to hope the anomaly only took things from YGGDRASIL into this world. That Martial Arts originated here in this world and that changes to this reality from the influence of other realities happened slowly. Until he could gather more information and devote more resources researching the anomaly, it was all he could do. Tri'ade needed to focus on more immediate concerns.

As the group began to set off on the road again, Tri'ade gravitated towards Ninya the Spell-caster to talk to her about magic again. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What goods can you create with creation magic that are permanent?"

"You can create a lot with creation magic, and all of it is permanent unlike summons. Even basics like salt or sugar can be created and spells like alarm can warn you after you go to sleep."

"I see."

Of course, Tri'ade had access to numerous creation spells in his spell-book but for the sake of questioning about it he had convinced Ninya his knowledge of magic was extremely specialized towards combat magic after he showed off his ability to use tier three magic.

The more he learned about how mages use their magic in this new world the more impressed he was. While they were a very low tier in magic ability they seemed remarkably sophisticated in its use. Developing useful low tier spells which they can use for the most benefit. With it they could restore soil fertility like modern-day chemists could do with fertilizers, and even make numerous appliances like refrigerators. Granted these appliances were expensive from what he heard from Ninya and only the rich could afford them.

The group continued along the path with everyone but Narberal and Tri'ade sweating due to the scorching sun at their backs. Lukrut broke the silence to once again try to flirt with Narberal. "You guys don't have to be on the lookout so much. I got my eyes open! I mean, check out Narberal, she's totally relaxed because she believes in me."

"It has nothing to do with you. It's because I'm with my Master." She gave Lukrut a very annoyed look as if she was trying to kill him with her gaze. Trying to deescalate the situation, Tri'ade put a hand on Narberal's shoulder to calm her down like he did before at the Guild.

Seeing how Narberal reacted to Tri'ade's touch, Lukrut had a question for them. "So what you are telling me is that you're lovers after all?"

Blushing as red as an apple Narberal exclaimed "Lovers?! I never said that! Stop putting words in my mouth. He has Lady Albedo!"

Putting his hand on her shoulder again and Tri'ade leaned down to her ear "Calm yourself." Narberal put both hands over her mouth shocked at what she just did.

He sighed as he straightened up. It wasn't that pivotal of a leak given how Albedo was with him at Carne Village the others probably would've heard about her eventually. Tri'ade was more surprised how much of a sensitive issue it was to her. There was no doubting it now with Narberal's scarlet blushing, She had the hots for him.

Turning to Lukrut, Tri'ade addressed him clearly, "Please stop poking into our private affairs."

Scratching his cheek, Lukrut responded in a daze, "Sure.. My bad. Though from the sound of it your one lucky man, Mr. Tri'ade."

Peter came up behind Lukrut exasperated at the current situation. "Lukrut, cut the chatter and focus on keeping watch."

Waving it off Lukrut simply turned his back to keep an eye on the horizon. "Yes, Sir."

"I'm sorry. Please forgive him. He doesn't mean any harm by it."

Nodding to Peter, Tri'ade replied, "It's fine. As long as he eases up on Narberal."

As if on cue, Lukrut said with his back facing them, "Ahh, now Narberal hates me. Her affection for me is negative!"

Tri'ade face palmed wondering when Lukrut thought Narberal's affection to him was ever positive, leaving Peter to say, "That idiot. I'll give him a good talking to later."

"Something is moving," Lukrut announced with a seriousness that Tri'ade hadn't heard from him before. Everyone readied their weapons and tried to look where Lukrut was facing.

"Where is it?"

"Just past the treeline. A lot of them coming our way." Lukrut pointed in response to Peter's question to a part of the giant forest. It was difficult to see inside since it was shaded by trees but eventually some small green creatures darted out of the forest.

Goblins. They seemed to be lightly armored with some crude animal hide and iron weapons. Towering above them were several hulking Ogres armed with large tree branches. The ogres looked to be carrying bags made out of rags suggesting they were a migrating group of monsters.

There were quite a large number of them, suggesting it was more along the lines of a small tribe leaving the forest. Nearly three dozen Goblins and ten ogres could be seen approaching them from the forest. Still, too far away to engage the adventurers, the monsters looked down upon them with hostile intent.

"I don't think we'll be able to avoid this fight," said Lukrut.

"It's going to get ugly really quickly, the best thing you can do is stay hidden in the cart," said Peter while looking to Nfirea who nodded in understanding. "Okay, my life is in your hands."

"Mr. Tri'ade what's the best way to split the group up?" Peter asked.

"You should all stay close to the cart and eliminate any that slip past us. We'll thin them out at a distance with magic, then close in to cause havoc."

"Tri'ade?"

"It would be embarrassing for a Battle Mage to have difficulty with such vermin. Narberal, let's torch these goblins."

"Yes, Master."

The Swords of Darkness members understood what Tri'ade was trying to say by such a confident display, that they could trust him in this fight.

"That sounds good to me. You'll have all the extended support we can muster," declared Peter.

Dyne said, "If we go completely defensive most of them will escape into the forest."

"If that's the case, let's do the usual and lure out the turtle's head and cut it off." replied Lukrut with a smile on his face.

"It's a sound strategy but flawed," said Ninya. "There are too many of them. Many of them will slip through."

"That's easy," said Peter. "I'll use fortress to hold off the Ogres that slip past, Dyne and Lukrut handle the goblins. Ninya protects me with defensive magic. After that, focus on crowd control and attack spells. If an Ogre gets past me, focus on taking it out." The members of the Swords of Darkness took their orders from Peter quickly. They were quickly on the same wavelength. They reminded Tri'ade of his old comrades before a raid or expedition.

Lukrut fired an arrow which landed aimlessly in front of them. The goblins laughed at the apparent failure and charged the adventurers. "Fell for it." The next arrow hit one of them right in the forehead.

"[Reinforce armor]" Ninya's spell surrounded Peter's body in glowing light for a bit.

 _I can't get cocky. If just one of these monsters reaches Nfirea, it's mission failure._

The goblins were attacking the adventurers in one large mob dispersed over an area with no real formation to speak of in their blood-lust. Tri'ade pointed at the left flank of the mob with his left hand's index finger.

"[Fireball]" The small pellet sized fireball sprang forth, hitting the mob with a large explosion, killing nearly a dozen goblins and two of the Ogres instantly. Not letting up, he let loose another spell against the mob while Narberal started her own casting.

"[Fireball]"

"[Flaming Sphere]"

Another explosion hit the approaching goblin force this time in their right flank killing another group of them plus another Ogre down. A five-foot sphere of hot flames rolled around in the middle of the mob burning alive any goblin it touched which left the Ogres alone.

"Whoa!" Nfirea exclaimed, watching from the cart as the carnage unfolded.

Making ready the adamantine greatsword Tri'ade had chosen for this outing, he ran towards the approaching ogres. He swung the sword using only his right hand slicing its torso in half and used his left hand to cast another spell as he ran past the collapsing Ogre.

"[Scorching Rays]" Fiery beams issued forth from Tri'ade's outreached palm towards another Ogre, engulfing it in flames until it collapsed. Everyone stood in awe of what they had just witnessed and even the enemy was struck dumbfounded.

"Tri'ade... are you a monster?" asked Peter.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Lukrut.

"He's stronger than I thought! Could he be Adamantite level?" wondered Dyne.

Tri'ade raised his greatsword towards the nearest Ogre who at this point began backing away and taunted, "Afraid to attack me? Cowards!" At this, most of remaining Ogres charged him while the remaining goblins scattered, avoiding Tri'ade at all costs. One by one, the Ogres that charged him fell to his blade.

"Get ready, Ninya!" Peter said as the Goblins who avoided Tri'ade charged him instead.

"[Twine Plant]"

The one Ogre that was charging Peter was stopped in its tracks by vines ensnaring it. This allowed Peter to focus on cutting down the Goblins in front of him. However, there were still too many of them and one of them managed to flank Peter.

"[Magic Arrow]" Ninya's staff glowed and out from it sprang an arrow of pure magical energy striking the goblin coming up from Peter's rear killing it instantly. However, as it fell, several Goblins began charging towards Ninya, weapons in hand ready to avenge their fallen kin.

Lukrut positioned himself in front of Ninya, ditching his bow and drawing out his sword. "Here they come!"

Dyne moved to Lukrut's side, mace in hand. "About time!" They acted as Ninya's frontline shields, attacking any Goblin coming close as she continued to use attack spells from afar.

This caught Tri'ade's attention "Good teamwork. Weak but they got potential." He then thrust his great-sword into the torso of another of the Ogres and as it fell, Tri'ade lopped its head clear off its shoulders. Moving onto the next Ogre he hacked off its arm carrying its club ,then proceeded to slash through its torso cutting the hulking beast in half.

"Let us get out of here!"

"Run Away! "Run Away!"

It was about this time the Goblins had finally put two and two together. Seeing their number rapidly dwindling they began to retreat in due haste back to the Forest. As they did a few of them ran without regard to each other making for a good angle of attack for Narberal.

"Narberal, now!" ordered Tri'ade.

She somersaulted into position behind one of the fleeing Ogres.

"[Lighting]" A bolt of lighting sprang forth from her outstretched hand killing one of the fleeing Ogres along with the Ogre that Dyne had entrapped with vines earlier.

"Don't let them escape!" Peter yelled out to his teammates. They abandoned their previous defensive posture and pursued the fleeing goblins as they ran towards the forest. Lukrut nailed several of them in the back with his arrows and Ninya felled more with her spells.

 _This should change some people's mind's at the Guild about me. Still, I shouldn't appear too relentlessly strong. Don't want to appear inhuman._

Tri'ade made a show of being winded and planted his sword to the ground, leaning on it as the Swords of Darkness mopped things up with the goblins. The smell of burnt flesh and blood was heavy in the air.

After they finished with the Goblins, the Swords of Darkness began coming back closer to the cart. Dyne was healing the wounds of Peter and Lukrut with his magic while Ninya was cutting off the ears of their fallen foes.

Ninya, as he was cutting, noticed Tri'ade and Narberal looking over the corpses of the Goblins and Ogres. "Are you looking for something?"

Tri'ade looked up in response to Ninya's question. "Yeah, just checking if there was anything salvageable. The iron from their weapons seems to be the only thing of value."

"Yeah, but we can't take it back to town," We won't have room for it in the cart."

Privately Tri'ade grumbled he could probably fit it in his inventory easily but he couldn't do that in front of others. His natural instinct as a player to grab all the loot he could was grating him even if the loot from the goblins was nearly worthless. But having a pocket dimension inventory system would be impossible to explain to these people and raise too much suspicion. He settled on having the shadow demons following him collect the loot along with the bodies once they left.

"You were amazing back there. I knew you told us you were a veteran monster slayer but I never expected anything like that. Your fireball spells were really powerful."

In response to Ninya's praise, the other members of the Swords of Darkness chimed in as well.

"Not only that but the way you sliced those Ogres in half was incredible! As a warrior, I can only hope someday to get that strong. How did you do it?"

"With Narberal at your side, I figured you were rich. But how you moved in battle was impressive. Those Ogres never could land a hit on ya."

"Now I see that what you were saying at the Guild was for real. I wouldn't be surprised if you are stronger than the Royal Head Warrior."

"Far Stronger" Narberal looked smug enough to snigger next to Tri'ade but he tried to be modest. "It's simply a difference in experience."

"Difference in experience...?" Peter smiled wryly "Really the way you fought reminds me there are always bigger fish in the sea."

"Your teamwork was excellent. You need only experience and better equipment to become great."

They all stared at him with blank faces surprised at what they were hearing and after looking at each other, laughed awkwardly. The Swords of Darkness had trouble believing they could ever reach such a thing as "great" having scraped by for so long.

Nfirea stepped off the cart. "I knew I was right to choose you to guard me. Without you, I'd probably be dead from those goblins."

"There certainly were a lot of them. I don't think we could have taken them on without Tri'ade and Narberal. You guys certainly took care of more than half of them."

Scratching his beard, Dyne Woodwonder replied, "Definitely something going on in the Forest. The other monsters typically fear the Wise King and stay away from his territory."

Tri'ade contemplated for a moment. _Wait. Am I responsible for this? I did subjugate the major monsters of the forest. Did I just kill refugees? I might need to check in on Ryura when I get back._

* * *

 **Ninth Floor of Nazarick**

Demiurge walked the halls of the Ninth Floor with a smile on his face. He always enjoyed walking the ninth floor, home of their creators in the Great Tomb. This gleeful devil was on his way to his Master's room. Tri'ade might not have been present in the Great Tomb but Albedo had been taking up residence there. Since she had her master's permission, he saw no issue.

When he finally reached the door to the room, it opened. Out stepped a Butler with black gloves and a ski mask. Alongside him was a Penguin with blond hair on the sides of his head but nothing on top and wearing only a necktie.

"Long time no see, Eclair."

"Indeed, Master Demiurge," the penguin bobbed his head.

"Is Albedo in there? I need to speak with her."

"Yes, she is. I just got finished speaking with her myself. With Master Sebas away, I need to perform his duties as well."

"Oh, yes. If Sebas is gone, the ninth level depends on you."

"Exactly! I need to do a good job in preparation for the day when I rule the Great Tomb of Nazarick!"

Demiurge just smiled at the somewhat suspect statement. After all, Eclair was made to hold such unreasonable ambitions. No one could fault him for obeying his creator.

"Indeed, do your best. Now do excuse me." Demiurge bowed in apology but Eclair told him not to worry about it.

"Carry me!" Eclair was picked up by his butler sidekick and carried off. It was the only way for him to travel around Nazarick after all with his slow penguin waddle.

"Well, Master Demiurge, I take my leave."

"All right, see you around, Eclair."

Once Eclair was gone, he went over to the now closed door of his Master's room and knocked. "It's Demiurge. I am coming in." There was no reply, so he entered his master's suite.

The suite had many rooms with the first one past the door being the Master's office where he and Albedo typically discussed plans for Nazarick. She was not here however, so there was only one other room she could be in. The Master Bedroom, which he proceeded to.

He knocked and entered without waiting for the reply this time. There was only one bed in the room, a magnificent king sized bed with a canopy. Squirming around within the sheets was none other than the Guardian Overseer, Albedo.

"Albedo."

She got up to look up at Demiurge and he noticed Albedo was naked under the covers."What are you doing in there?"

"When Lord Tri'ade returns I want him to be enveloped in my scent. So that he might call upon me as soon as he comes back."

"Well, don't over do it."

"I don't know what you mean by that but we'll try. Right, Lord Tri'ade?" Suddenly she brought up a life-sized pillow with the naked depiction of Lord Tri'ade to her cheek and nuzzled it.

Demiurge pushed up his glasses almost like he was face-palming. "Is that a... life-sized body pillow?

"Yes! Isn't it great? I made it myself. Now I am making the socks and clothes for our first child. I need to be prepared."

"You're pregnant?"

"I do not know yet. But it won't be much longer. I can feel it! I've made enough clothes for the first five years. Boy or Girl, they'll have anything they could ask for." She nuzzled the body pillow once more. "Hmm? What if the child doesn't have a gender?!"

Sighing, Demiurge replied, "If the elf twins are any indication, the Supreme Beings have no issue with their subjects cross-dressing."

"Yes! Your right! That's exactly what I needed to hear."

Tilting his head and raising his hand up to the side. "I am always happy to help." He brought his hands back to his side. "Anyway, as to why I am here. I'm going to be leaving soon, as Lord Tri'ade commanded. That means the only floor guardians able to move freely are you, Shalltear, and Cocytus. Please take care."

"Things should be fine with the three of us here. We should be able to buy enough time for others to come back should the situation get troublesome. More importantly, what are you going to do with the remaining Sunlight Scripture members and those monsters you collected from the Forest? You were given orders to be in charge of them but I have no idea what you are planning."

"Oh, them? Lord Tri'ade gave me permission to experiment upon them."

Demiurge smiled happily while talking about this subject while Albedo's shapely eyebrows crinkled. Their roles in the conversation had reversed.

"First, a healing magic experiment. A severed limb will disappear if you cast a healing spell on a stub. So if you heal the stub after force-feeding a subject with an arm, what happens to the nutritional value? If repeated, would the subject starve to death?"

"Ah, I see."

"And that's not all! Tri'ade was curious as to the extent of a Troll's regenerative abilities. One knows that to stop it you must use fire but can one use overwhelming force to destroy so much tissue it can no longer have the materials to regenerate. Not to mention if they are starved to death can a troll regenerate at all? Then there is the possibility of hybrid cross-breeds!"

"Cross-breeding? Why in the world would you do that?" Albedo questioned with a look of disgust on her face.

"It's obvious. Trolls and Ogres are notoriously dim-witted but their physical attributes make for decent servants. A human-ogre hybrid could make for a serviceable laborer. Their strength might lessen but their intellectual capacity might increase. I've acquired a few female Ogres for just such an experiment."

"I don't understand that thinking. Wouldn't undead servants be better in all respects?"

"Lord Tri'ade said something about not knowing the number of undead he could control at once. He said he would conduct experiments of his own later and to stockpile any corpses we may get on the fifth floor."

"That's right. Unlike Nazarick's re-spawn pop of undead, any created by a necromancer must be controlled directly by the caster. But Lord Tri'ade is a Master Necromancer he shouldn't have too much issue with controlling undead."

"From what I heard from him, more powerful undead are more taxing to control than your ordinary zombie or skeleton. Not to mention the numbers needed to bolster Nazarick's defenses are in the thousands. I doubt it will be a problem for our Lord. He will figure something out."

"Of course he will. He is a Supreme Being after all."

"Anyhow, if I stand here gabbing, I won't be able to carry out our Lord Tri'ade's orders on time, and we can't have that. If anything happens, get in touch and I'll come right back."

"Sure. I don't think there will be anything I can't handle, but if there is, I'll call you." She slipped a willowy arm out from under the sheets and waved good-bye.

"Then if you'll excuse me..." Demiurge bowed and left the room. Albedo was now all alone with her body pillow of Lord Tri'ade up close to her.

"Finally! I began to think he would never leave. Now that we are all alone again darling I know exactly what we should do."

She got up from the bed and went over to the nightstand. Pulling the drawer out which contained a large dildo with a strange extension on the bottom. The pliable plastic extended to include a ball-sack and a screw-like end behind that.

Albedo took it back to the bed and lifted up the covers to unveil the lower half of her Tri'ade body pillow. It had a hole near the groin. She proceeded to screw on the large facsimile of her love's genitals onto the pillow until it was in place.

"Yes! Yes! It fits perfectly." Albedo hadn't gotten the screw made right with the last one so part of her feared a repeat of that. She began to drool a bit at the sight of her naked recreation of Tri'ade having an erection.

Bringing her head over to the tip of the Dildo she began sucking on it. Then she proceeded to deep throat it to get it all nice and wet. Albedo then began to caress the dildo with her hand and sighed, "I got the proportions right but it's still lacking that warmth and musk."

She got on top of her body pillow with the dildo now right below her. "Ah well, with him away I need to make do with what I have." Albedo lowered herself onto her Tri'ade pillow stand-in's groin and let the dildo slowly fill her insides up.

"Ahh! Yes! That's right! Fill me right up." Albedo had felt so empty without her love around. She had grown so accustomed to their morning and nightly activities that their absence was driving her mad. When her hips reached all the way down, she could feel the tip of the dildo hit her cervix.

Staring into the face of her love on the body pillow she began moving her hips up and down the long shaft of the Dildo. Slowly at first but soon picking up speed. Her soft moans began to get louder and louder as she continued to ride the pillow of Tri'ade that was becoming stained with her juices.

She then hugged the pillow as her hips made the dildo enter her as deep and as hard as she could. "Yes! Yes! Almost there! More! More!" Albedo's bubble butt's waves became more pronounced the harder she moved her hips until finally she came.

Slumping down on top of her pillow of Tri'ade, she panted and nuzzled it. "Oh, if only you were really here, darling. I miss the look on your face as you cum inside me and the warmth of your affection as it fills me up completely."

Albedo knew she had to get used to it. Her love had told her of Genghis Khan and how that supposedly great conqueror left his wives to govern while he led men in battle. That he needed her to stay in Nazarick while he did what he could to secure this world for their children.

Smiling, she thought fondly about what else he told her. That she would always be his first. His first love, his first wife. That he lived a celibate life as a Supreme Being before coming to this world. Albedo was surprised at first, a man like Tri'ade she had assumed had many women prior to her.

"First Wife, huh?" That meant he had plans for other wives, other women. It would be strange for someone of her Lord's position and power not to have a harem. That means she will be the head of her love's harem.

"Is that why Tri'ade brought Narberal along with him?" She grew a bit jealous at the maid and what she might be doing with her love right now. That said, she anticipated it with a certain amount of glee at the news and how Shalltear would receive it. Shalltear, a floor guardian, being passed over for one of the Pleiades would no doubt infuriate her. Albedo had remembered her pouting earlier at Tri'ade not calling upon her to service him in his chambers.

* * *

 **Afterword**

Howdy, y'all? You guys miss me? I decided to leave the ending of Tri'ade's journey here for suitable pacing. I wanted to give the following night camp scene it's due time next chapter and get more time to work on the reunion at Carne village. Regarding all the reviewers about future harem members, yes, that is planned but I want to give each future girl their own little story arc in developing their relationship with Tri'ade. More so with non-Nazarick women who might get included into it later.

Anyways, regarding Overlord Lore... Did you guys also find it strange Ainz could control a seemingly infinite amount of Death Knights when he stated earlier in the story at the Cemetery he would have trouble controlling all the undead that Khajit summoned? Sure Kajhit had summoned literally thousands of regular skeletons but Ainz later controls hundreds of Death Knights afterwards. If he could do that he could easily control thousands upon thousands of regular skeletons, I would figure. As a reader, I think Ainz didn't know what the hell he was talking about. It might be another hidden New World Perk he got from being of the Overlord race.

Oh, and the whole Demiurge fascination with cross-breeding hybrids is a reference to Breeding Sow of the Holy Kingdom #2: Electric Boogaloo over at the "Overlord Volume 10? Where" blog. Check it out if you want that sort of stuff cause I will NEVER be depicting said cross-breeding experiments on this fanfic... I might reference them and if I decide a few are successful, USE them in the fanfic but I'll never write how their like is conceived.

Oh, and don't ask where Albedo got the rubber for her new toy. Where there is an obsessed will, there is a way. It's possible she may have gotten the materials from the treasury storage... I mean YGGDRASIL's crafting system must've had a use for rubber, right?


	10. Volume 2: Chapter 4: Return

_**Volume 2: Fire Lord, Chapter 4: Return**_

 _*Proofread by Pervysagechuck 1/04/2019_

After they had traveled along the road for a few more hours they decided to start pitching camp. The party needed to get the camp pitched before the sun would set and leave them in the dark of night.

Tri'ade was tasked with setting up the perimeter alarm system. It was fairly simple in design, four wooden stakes set up in a square with silken thread acting as a tripwire. Anything that touched the tripwire would ring the bell at their tent. Given the area though, there was a large amount of silken thread required and it took a while to set up. What he found strange was that they weren't planning for any watch shifts in addition to this alarm.

 _I guess when your expected opponents are nearly brainless goblins and ogres, this alarm works. But any alert rogue could disarm this trap easily enough._

Not that Tri'ade had to worry about that with the shadow demons on the lookout in the shadows around the camp. Speaking of his servants, Narberal came up behind him as he was pounding down the posts. She spoke in a dark voice as if she was suppressing her rage.

"Master, someone like you shouldn't have to do such menial tasks such as these..."

"Everyone is helping to set up camp. Remember, we are all adventurers here. I am not a Lord to them."

"Didn't you show your magnificent combat ability? Everyone has their strengths, this kind of work should be left to the weak."

 _I guess it's going to take more than one talk to get her out of that prejudiced mindset._

"Only one who was never weak would say such a thing. Unlike you, I was not. So I am quite comfortable doing such menial tasks.

"You were weak?"

"Everything that is born comes into the world weak and fragile. Only later does strength grow. Anyway, if it bothers you so much, help me finish this up, will you?"

Narberal nodded her understanding and helped her master with setting up the perimeter alarm posts. Afterwards, they returned to the marquee tent in camp to attach the bell alarm to it.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Lukrut, inside the tent and preparing an oven, didn't even look up from his work. Narberal was visibly annoyed at his discourtesy but Tri'ade didn't care. He spotted Ninya walking the perimeter chanting some spell. From what he heard before this must be that 'Alarm' spell. It didn't cover a large area but it seems like they wanted to supplement the simple tripwire alarm.

This spell didn't exist in YGGDRASIL, so that drew his interest. The magic was arcane like Tri'ade could use and it even looked like the spells from YGGDRASIL. He wondered whether he could possibly learn new spells. He had long surpassed the total number of spells one could learn by his own experience, but back in YGGDRASIL, due to his special skill, Sacrifice to the Gods, it was possible to learn spells past that limit. Tri'ade had previously sacrificed headless bodies to the god Mimir for spell knowledge but he had doubts about it now. Would that still work in this world with its own pantheon of deities?

Ninya realized Tri'ade had been staring, and he forced a smile when he came over. "You don't need to watch so closely! It's not such an interesting spell, is it?"

"You just took a long time in casting that spell. Is that normal for the Alarm spell?"

"Oh, no. I used a ritual to cast the spell. It takes a lot longer to cast but it doesn't require mana to do so."

"Fascinating. So that was a ritual spell? All you did was walk around and chant. I've heard of divine spellcasters doing similar things in their religious ceremonies but I've never seen it for myself."

Ninya turned wide-eyed at first then sighed, "Right. Ritual spells can't really be used in battle. It takes several minutes at least to cast. But they're useful for setting up traps or spells like alarm if you have the time."

 _From what I know of the Slane Theocracy, they apparently also use ritual magic with multiple people to cast spells beyond the sixth tier. Something about a Miko Priestess being needed._

"How exactly do you cast ritual magic? Normally, I just say the incantation and the spell fires off immediately."

"Well, I can't say I am an expert on ritual magic but it's all about holding onto the magic and concentrating on the process. The rituals vary from spell to spell and even sometimes from caster to caster themselves."

"So the ritualistic elements of the spell are merely there to help the caster focus and channel the spell?"

"Divine magic users would disagree but that's what my Master believes to be the case. At least for arcanists like us."

"As a battle mage, I mostly focused on trying to cast the spells faster... I might have to try ritual spell-casting."

"Well, not all spells can be cast that way and it is better to learn established rituals than try to make your own."

"Why is that?"

"Things can go wrong in ritual spell-casting that don't happen if you cast it normally. More powerful spells I hear require complicated rituals to cast. If the rituals are not performed correctly or the channeling is interrupted, the built-up magical energies can go haywire."

"Ah, that makes sense."

 _Reminds me of some game storyline where the heroes intentionally interrupt the villain's ritual. Typically summoning some evil creature into the world and the heroes make it backfire on them. Would it be possible to cast [Planar Ally] with ritual spell-casting? If it eliminated the experience cost in summoning high level or permanent summons it would be a great boon to Nazarick._

"Anyway, enough about my spell-casting. It was amazing to see you casting spells in battle. How do you do it with such armor on?"

"Well... It takes a certain level of discipline and sense of your armor. I've trained so much in my armor that it feels more like a second skin sometimes. It takes a lot of practice, so most don't bother with it."

"Is that why Narberal doesn't fight in armor?"

"Yes. She has yet to master it so it's better she fights without armor."

 _That and her only armor is her maid outfit. I can't have her wearing that in public…_

Lukrut chimed in looking up from the oven he was now cooking from. "Hey, sorry to bug you in the middle of your chat, but food's almost ready. Could you get the other three?"

"I'll go get them," Narberal said, obviously wanting to leave Lukrut's vicinity. "Aww! Are you leaving, Narberal? Wouldn't you rather make this meal the fruit of our love? Come cook with me!"

"Drop dead, maggot! Stop spouting such nonsense!"

"Mind your temper, Narberal. Ignore him and go on."

Narberal bowed. "Sorry, Master. I understand," she then turned to leave to go get the rest of their party.

"Mind if I ask you a question, Lukrut?"

"Huh? Sure, go ahead." Lukrut continued to stir the pot of stew he had been preparing.

"You do know you are coming on too strongly with Narberal?"

"I can't help it! Narberal is just so beautiful. I'm not inhumanly strong like you so I got to rely on my silver tongue to get the ladies. I need to push and push. Even if I only get a fraction of affection from her, I'll be a winner for life!"

Tri'ade did read somewhere that women did like to be pursued but Narberal was hardly normal. Even so, he felt Lukrut's fervent flirting was going a bit too far.

"Lukrut is right." said Ninya. "Your strength today resembled something right out of the tales of Heroes. It really sunk into me today that heroes really are something beyond normal people."

"I've been fighting for more years than any of you have lived. Don't get discouraged by it."

Narberal came back with the others following behind her. Tri'ade noticed it was getting late, the sun was about to vanish below the horizon and the sky had been dyed crimson red. Bowls were handed out to each of them and Lukrut poured the stew to each of them.

Looking at it, the stew appeared to be flavored with smoke and salted meat. There were other things he could spot like crusty bread, dried figs, and various nuts. The party arrayed their place-mats around a small fire and sat down. They had set things up near an old tree stump so Tri'ade could have somewhere to sit in his armor. The rest of them sat on the ground with their legs crossed.

Everyone else began eating and Tri'ade lowered his cowl, taking his golden mask off. The illusion magic he had used previously was still in effect.

 _I'm glad I bothered casting [Veil] instead of [Disguise Self]._

[Veil] was a tier six illusion spell while [Disguise Self] was level one. Given the minor alterations to his appearance that he had made, he almost went with Disguise Self for efficiency's sake but he remembered [Veil] had a duration of one hour per level of the player casting it. Normally it was used to disguise an entire party but the quality of the illusion was also quite superb, making illusions capable of being touched or even disguising smells.

Tri'ade didn't use it much back in YGGDRASIL since at higher levels it was common to get equipment with true seeing enchantments. He was afraid of relying on it too much for that reason. His mask and anti-divination ring were far better at hiding his nature to the locals. Even if they managed to get true seeing on themselves they couldn't see through his mask.

He used a spoon and scooped up some of the stew to try it. The dried figs were sweet even though they had a stringy taste and the seeds got stuck between his teeth.

Tri'ade, of course, was not used to eating figs. They were often marketed as a food for the health conscious. The bread, while old, had a good taste to it when you soaked it in the stew but his favorite was the salted pork. It tasted sort of like jerky due to how much salt was used to preserve the meat.

Seeing her master dig in, Narberal did the same tasting one of the dried figs but got a disgusted look on her face afterward. Lukrut asked, "Oh no, is there something you don't like in it?"

"Everything. It doesn't even..." Before Narberal could continue Tri'ade put his hand over her mouth to stop her. "Don't be rude " he said. Afterward, he lifted his hand off her mouth and Narberal stated calmly, "Sorry, Master."

"No. It's not rude at all! I'll prepare something new if my love tells me how she likes it."

Narberal glared with disdain at Lukrut at his response.

Tri'ade waved his hands in front of him. "Sorry, It's not that. Narberal's always has been a very picky eater."

 _I can't very well say she's been spoiled rotten by the chefs of Nazarick where you can eat dragon steak for dinner._

Dyne Woodwonder chimed in, "Is that so? Sounds like you two have a long history."

"You could say that. I've known Narberal all her life."

Lukrut choked, spitting his stew and causing some of it to sizzle in the campfire. "You're Narberal's father?!"

Narberal tilted her head to Tri'ade and gave him a bit of a confused look not knowing where he was going with this.

"Of course not." Tri'ade replied. "But I knew her father and he left her in my care."

"Ah, so that's the reason you two seem so close." Lukrut said with a tinge of relief in his voice.

"I must admit I'm kind of envious of Narberal." interjected Ninya. "My own master has so many other apprentices, it's difficult for him to arrange the time to train me."

"Yes, but enough about me. What's up with the name Swords of Darkness? None of you have dark looking swords."

"Ohh, that. Tell him, Ninya." An awkward smile played across Lukrut's face.

Ninya's face was turning a deep shade of red. "Don't make me! I was young and stupid."

Crossing his arms, Dyne simply said, "It's really nothing to be embarrassed about. It's important to dream big!"

Ninya then spoke up shyly, "Anyway. It's a reference to the old legends. We named our party after the swords wielded by one of the Thirteen Heroes."

Narberal spoke up from beside him. "I don't know them. Who are they?"

"You haven't heard of them, Narberal? Well, I guess you wouldn't have heard of the Swords of Darkness or their owner. They belonged to the man known as the Black Knight but because people thought he had demonic ancestry, he ended up being more of an anti-hero instead. He among others were deliberately covered up in the saga of the Thirteen Heroes though I've heard he was a very powerful knight.

"The Swords of Darkness are four swords that the Black Knight used. There was the demonic blade Kilineiram, which could emit dark energy, the blade of rot, Crocdabal, which inflicted wounds that would not heal, the fatal blade Sfeiz, which could kill with the merest scratch, as well as the evil blade Hyumilis, whose powers are unknown.

"Hmm."

Every one of the adventurers smiled awkwardly at Narberal's unenthusiastic reply. But Tri'ade leaned back and put his hand on his chin in thought. Those abilities seemed awfully familiar. After thinking on it, those sword abilities sounded similar to skills possessed by Shalltear who had levels in the Cursed Knight class. That class had a number of very powerful abilities but were often cursed with significant drawbacks so few players actually took it.

While the swords may have matched cursed knight skills it was probably more likely the Black Knight himself was a cursed knight. Meaning the Black Knight would have to be around level seventy to acquire all of those abilities. It was a higher level than Narberal Gamma was at level sixty-three, but still far weaker than he was. Though it all depended on the nature of the swords. They could possibly have been enchanted to augment a fledgling Cursed Knight's abilities.

It was probably safe to assume that the Black Knight came from YGGDRASIL. The fact that this supposed half-demon didn't ally himself with the Evil Deities would suggest that like Tri'ade, the Black Knight merely role-played the part of a baddie in the game. Given what names he gave his swords he sounded like he was a chuunibyou.

Lukrut and the others were continuing their conversation of the Thirteen Heroes while Tri'ade was thinking about all of this. He turned his attention back to them, he had doubts he could rely on Narberal to remember every detail about a subject she clearly wasn't interested in.

"Our ultimate goal was to find the swords for ourselves someday. There are a lot of legendary weapons but these, we know for sure exist. Sure we may not know they still exist but..."

"Oh, I know of one person who has a Sword of Darkness." Nfirea casually dropped a bombshell revelation to the party.

All of the Swords of Darkness turned to face him demanding answers.

"Wh-who?!" asked Lukrut.

"Whoa! Really? So there's only three left?!" Dyne asked.

"Hrm. Now there won't be enough to go around." declared Peter.

Nfirea responded timidly, now afraid of how the group would respond. "Er. about that... the person who owns the sword is the leader of Blue Rose."

"Those guys?" said a disappointed Lukrut. "They're adamantite level adventurers! I guess it can't be helped."

"Still, there's three of them left," stated Peter. "Let's work hard so we can be strong enough to claim the rest into our possession."

"Indeed," Dyne added. "Since one of them is the real deal, that probably means the other three are out there as well. I hope they are hidden in a place no one finds before us."

"Anyhow, we still have the other things," said Peter.

"Other things?" asked Tri'ade.

Peter drew a dagger with four jewels embedded into its handle and had a black blade as dark as obsidian. "The idea is to have this as our symbol until we get the real ones..."

Drawing his own black dagger, Lukrut lifted it up high to stare at it. "I don't care if they're not the real deal. They represent the creation of our team. That's more important to me than any mythical blade."

Dyne, with his hand on his chin said in response, "You know I think that's the first time Lukrut has said something mildly meaningful."

Lukrut snapped back, "Hey, take that back!"

Teasing Lukrut, Peter said sarcastically, "Who are you and what did you do with our friend?"

"I'm a silver-tongued fox and you know it!" said a smiling Lukrut.

The Swords of Darkness all laughed together like the group of good friends that they were. It seriously reminded Tri'ade of his old friends and how they acted towards each other. How he would talk to them when going out for a quest or raid. Collecting materials and resources that helped build Nazarick.

For the first time since coming to the New World, Tri'ade felt a chill down his spine and his heart lurched in his chest. While he may have the love of Albedo, and the devotion of the NPC's, he had no friends. Nothing like his former comrades existed in his life anymore. He then began to doubt it would ever change.

He was a being beyond strength, placed upon the highest pedestal in Nazarick as the last remaining Supreme Being and Guild-Master. Tri'ade knew he would inspire more fear and awe than anything resembling the friendship he had with his guild-mates. Despite everything he now had, he found himself envious of the Swords of Darkness's friendship with one another.

He wasn't the only one though. Nfirea had that look about him as well. Though probably for far different reasons. Tri'ade imagined his position as a famous apothecary's grandson and talent holder might have placed him on another sort of pedestal that distanced himself from others.

"You all get along so well. Is that normal for adventurers?"

"Yeah, we all trust each other with our lives. You gotta have that trust to work together well enough to battle monsters."

"It helps our team is nothing but guys. I heard if you have a woman in the group, you end up fighting over her."

Ninya smiled awkwardly. "If we did have a girl, you'd be the first one to cause problems! But I think our greatest strength is our common goal. It keeps us focused on the future."

"Amazing things can happen when everyone's aims are aligned." said Tri'ade. "The impossible becomes possible."

"Were you on a team too, Mr. Tri'ade?" asked Nfirea.

"Yes. When I lost everything, including the will to continue on, nine heroes saved me." answered Tri'ade with a sad note in his voice. "They were the best allies one could hope for, more than that they were my friends, my family. I will never forget the days I spent with them."

"Mr. Tri'ade..." Deep in his memories, Tri'ade didn't know who had just spoken up.

"Don't worry!" declared Ninya. "I'm sure you'll find allies just like them one of these days."

"Don't spout such nonsense at me!" snapped Tri'ade, annoyed by Ninya's spouting of platitudes in his vain attempt to comfort him. He was surprised at his own hostility.

Tri'ade stood stunned, fighting the urge in his arm to hit Ninya or well, anything. The rest of the party was stunned as well but out of sheer fear of his outburst. Forcing himself to sit back down he gripped his knees and did some breathing exercises to try to calm himself down. He then put a hand on his chest to feel out his breathing.

"I'm sorry about that. Old wounds acting up."

"No! No! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you."

Tri'ade sighed, "I know, it's just a touchy subject. I thought I was over it but I was wrong."

"If you don't mind me asking... What happened to them?"

Somewhat embarrassed at his earlier outburst Tri'ade replied frankly, "We grew old and apart. I tried to keep in touch with them but without a common goal, it wasn't the same. Nothing lasts forever. So treasure it while it's there."

"Too true." Dyne said solemnly.

Leaning in, Tri'ade smiled with a half-hearted grin. "So always plan ahead for your team. I mean what would you DO with the Swords of Darkness if you got them? I mean you already know its possible given one has already been found."

The Swords of Darkness looked at one another.

"I know what I would do. I would use it to acquire riches so we could live the way I always wanted to! No more hard-as-a-rock bread and I would have beautiful women at my side." Lukrut said eagerly, fantasizing about it already.

Peter smiled at Lukrut and replied, "If we got the swords our team would finally hit it big. We would be adamantine-class adventurers for sure."

"I would want to use it to protect others from monsters who would prey upon them," Dyne said with a hot conviction which, coming from the druid, surprised Tri'ade.

"There would be nothing to stop me," Ninya said with a somewhat gloomy expression hinting at something more.

 _So Lukrut's interested in material gain, Peter is looking for glory, Dyne looks like he might have a grudge of some kind against monsters, and Ninya has some deeper motive. Interesting._

The party continued the idle conversation until they had finished their meal and the flames in the campfire began to die down. After that, they went to their separate tents. Tri'ade and Narberal decided to share a tent to save on costs and upon hearing it, Lukrut looked at Tri'ade with envy.

* * *

 **Earlier that day.**

On the dirt roads south of E-Rantel there was a plain carriage traveling along the road. A black haired coach driver in plain clothes was holding the reins of two horses pulling it along while the man riding inside was Arthur Oreio Partouche. He had hired the carriage and the driver with the money Lord Tri'ade had given him, thinking it was best to make all haste back to the Theocracy.

It was then he heard a voice in his head.

"[Master there is a someone flying towards you under an invisibility spell. Should we intercept him?]"

It was the squad of Shadows Tri'ade had lent him to help him in his mission to investigate the Pontifex Maximus for blasphemy for his ordering the massacre of human villages. They seemed to be nothing more than a mass of living shadows. Arthur was impressed they could detect someone while magically invisible but compared to the last several days, it no longer surprised him.

"[No. Let them come.]" Fly was a tier three spell. Only highly trained or experienced magic users could use it. Coupled with the invisibility and guessing at the possible motive, only one group came to mind. The Windflower Scripture.

Last he heard, the Windflower Scripture was still tracking down the person who stole the Crown of Wisdom but they had mages who specialized in illusion magic. They would also be the only ones with a motive to try to find him. Sure, the Empire had capable mages but they rarely left the Ministry of Magic and adventurers typically don't resort to common banditry.

 _How did they track him down so fast when they were busy with their search for the crown?_

Before he could think further on it the door opposite him in the carriage opened and he felt a rush of wind towards him. Then he saw a steel dagger appear close to his neck with the man holding it emerging as well. Arthur recognized the outfit he was wearing. All black, non-distinct robes with a cowl and mask over his head to hide his identity. It was a member of the Windflower Scripture all right.

"Arthur Oreio Partouche. Where is the rest of your unit?" The voice was oddly familiar but Arthur had trouble remembering where from. But he remembered what Tri'ade told him. Tell the truth but not the whole truth.

"Dead or captured. We encountered unexpected resistance that led to a total wipeout."

The carriage driver yelled back to them. "Is everything alright back there?! I heard some strange noises."

His new visitor in the carriage pressed the dagger closer to Arthur's throat. He yelled back in response "No, everything is fine! Just focus on driving!"

"If your unit experienced a total wipeout then why are you here fine and dandy getting a nice ride back home?"

It was odd now that he thought about it especially with his relative connection to a Cardinal one would think he would be ransomed. That is if the captor cared about money.

"I was captured at first but I was let go to send a message back to the Cardinals. Our captors gave me enough funds to hire this carriage in order to get there quickly."

The man at this withdrew his dagger and sat down in the cabin's seats. Which was good to Arthur because it meant no longer having a man looming over him with a dagger interrogating him.

"I can't believe the Kingdom could beat one of our Scriptures and capture its members."

"They didn't." replied Arthur. "A man named Tri'ade Nazarick did."

"Never heard of him."

"Neither did we, but no matter what summons we threw at him he swatted them off like flies. He's at least as strong as an awakened Godkin."

"Really? Where did you hear of Godkin? That's supposed to be a secret." Arthur finally got why this man's voice felt familiar.

"Nephew of a Cardinal, remember? Or did you forget that, Tristan?"

"Heh, blabbermouth Cardinals. How you figure it out?" The Windflower member took off his mask revealing the face of Tristan. He had short black hair with a noticeable stubble to his chin.

Arthur knew him because they were in the same class while they attended public school together. Prior to being trained as Scripture members, one had to undergo general public education. To learn the basics, of course. Reading, writing, mathematics, theology, etc. Along with the standard magical aptitude tests. That being the case, it had been many years since they last saw each other so he had trouble recognizing him at first.

"Who else would spot me in plainclothes but an old friend? I thought you Windflower guys were chasing after the crown thief."

"We are. I just spotted you in E-Rantel while on business. That guy in the flame like armor gave me all sorts of chills so I had to wait till you separated. I'm guessing that was Tri'ade?"

Arthur began to sweat over how much exactly Tristan might have seen or heard of him interacting with Tri'ade? But he tried to suppress it. If his old friend knew anything solid he probably would already be dead or arrested already.

"Yes, that was him."

"I'd love to keep a closer eye on someone as dangerous as him but my current orders take priority. As you know, we're spread thin enough as it is. You're going to report back to the Cardinal of Earth, right?"

The Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan was the overall commander of the Six Scriptures. Each of the leaders of the Scriptures had to answer to him.

"Right. I need to debrief him about the situation and relay the Godkin's message."

"I'll tell my Captain about this and he'll probably inform the old man via message. So they'll be expecting you back. I assume you're alright traveling on your own? I really should get back to my original mission."

"Your concern is appreciated but I can handle the odd bandit. I wish we had more time to catch up one of these days."

"Me too. But I doubt we can anytime soon, they keep us too busy. Glad you managed to survive."

Tristan gave him a salute and Arthur responded in kind. "May the Gods be with you" they repeated to each other. The Windflower member then opened the door of the carriage and flew out using his flight spell.

"What in the hell was that?!" The driver yelled at Arthur.

"Nothing. Just a friend that decided to leave. Keep your eyes on the road. I want to be in the next town by sundown."

"Not getting paid enough for this..." the driver grumbled.

Arthur decided to ignore the driver and sent a message to Tri'ade warning him that the Windflower Scripture might be operating near E-Rantel.

 **Road to Carne's Village**

The party of adventurers including Tri'ade set out on the road once again at sunrise. They traveled for some time until eventually, they caught sight of their destination. It was a rustic hamlet at the edge of the forest with a wooden fence around it.

Nfirea was oddly quiet when he saw the village so Peter asked, "What is it, Nfirea? Something the matter?"

"Oh no, Just... they didn't use to have such a sturdy fence there."

Tri'ade, recalling the last time he was here said, "Right, that is new. They must've built it after the attack."

"Attack?! What attack?" Beads of sweat could be seen forming on Nfirea's face.

"Right... you weren't there when I told everyone else."

Peter answered Nfirea's question "Carne village was attacked by the Theocracy trying to lure the Warrior-Captain into a trap. But Mr. Tri'ade helped save the village."

"Really?"

Lukrut scratched his head. "Yeah, I could hardly believe it myself but after seeing Tri'ade fight..."

Nfirea moved closer to Tri'ade as he asked, "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to the Emmot family?"

"Emmot?" Tri'ade put his hand on his chin as he tried to recall the last time he was at Carne village. After a moment he remembered his meeting with Enri and Nemu in the woods and him trying to explain magic to them. Then it clicked. "You're Enri's apothecary friend?"

"Yes! So you met her?! Is she alright?!" Nfirea asked in a hurry.

"Calm down," he said, placing a hand on Nfirea's shoulder "She's fine. You can ask her yourself once we get to the village."

Looking up, Tri'ade could finally see Nfirea's blue eyes between the parts of his hair. "Thank you very much for saving this village, Mr. Tri'ade. Thank you for saving Enri." For Tri'ade this was getting awkward so he let go of his shoulder and stepped back. Not really knowing what to say in response to Nfirea's sincere gratitude, he simply said, "Your welcome."

Lukrut smiled mischievously at Nfirea. "It sounds like our client might want to see his girl right away."

Blushing furiously red, Nifera said, "M-my girl? Th-that isn't... " Words failed him at that point.

"Haven't told her yet? Well, let big brother here teach you his amazing technique..."

Peter punched Lukrut, drawing a howl from the latter. The rest of the Swords of Darkness paid no heed to Lukrut's agony at being hit by Peter, instead they focused on Nfirea's supposed crush trying to advise and comfort him on approaching Enri. Nfirea, for his part smiled at their good intentions even if he was not fully convinced by them.

Tri'ade tried to stay silent during this whole exchange. He had absolutely no experience picking up women or any good experiences confessing love. So he didn't want to ruin Nfirea's chances by suggesting something stupid.

He recounted his previous life and all the times he confessed to a girl he liked or thought that liked him which resulted in harsh rejection or failure. The only girlfriend he had in high school was one who confessed to him, not the other way around. His success with women prior to Albedo was minor to say the least. He did end his old life a virgin after all and it was a depressing thought in hindsight.

After the group had settled down they proceeded on to Carne Village. The wheat fields spilled over onto the road that led to the village. Wheat stalks leaning over into the road brushed up against Peter who took the lead into the village. This resulted in him being covered in wheat grains that fell off.

Hiding in this haze of wheat, Tri'ade could spot the barely visible outlines of small green creatures. Goblins, if he had to guess and given their tactics skilled ones at that. He had little doubt what they were. Before they walked further into an ambush he spoke loudly.

"We come in peace. Reveal yourselves."

"Huh? What are..." Lukrut said but before he could finish, goblins began to pop up from the wheat fields beside them armed with swords and bows. The Swords of Darkness drew their weapons out in response.

One of the Goblins with the bow spoke up. "You got good eyes. If you come in peace you'll drop your weapons."

"Goblins," Ninya murmured. The Swords of Darkness began looking at each other trying to read each other if they wanted to fight or not. After a bit they tried to look back at Tri'ade. Another group of goblins emerged from the gate of the village. Tri'ade counted about a dozen of them.

"I'm not surrendering my weapon. We're going to wait here for your Master to sort this out. Everyone sheath your weapons."

"That's good to us. We'd like to avoid combat if we can."

"Who are these guys?!" Peter asked in confusion. Tri'ade didn't know whether it was from the goblin's actually looking like somewhat of a threat or the situation in general.

"They are goblins summoned by the magic of an item I gave the village."

Ninya exclaimed "What?! There's an item like that and you gave it to them..."

The leader looking goblin who was in the middle of the group blocking their entrance to the village realized who he was. "You're the one that saved our lady?" Before Tri'ade could answer a familiar blonde haired girl with emerald eyes came up to the gateway to the village. At the sight of her, Nfirea's eyes widened, and he called out her name. "Enri!"

In response, the girl clapped both of her hands together near her chin in excitement as she shouted back, "Nfirea! Sir Tri'ade!" She ran past her goblin bodyguards to get closer to the cart and Tri'ade moved to meet her. She bowed when she came close.

"This is a surprise! If I'd known you'd be back I would have prepared a better welcome."

"Fate can be strange. I would never have imagined getting hired by your friend."

"Hired by...Nfirea? " Her head slowly tilted toward him. "Wow! I knew your shop was doing well in E-Rantel but to hire a hero like Sir Tri'ade."

Embarrassed by the awed attention of his crush, Nfirea stammered, "Y-Yes, we are here to collect herbs in the forest."

"It sounds like you two have some catching up to do. Why don't we take a break here in the village and let the horses graze?" Peter suggested.

"It has been so long since I've seen you last, Nfirea."

"Th-That's a good idea. There's been a lot of changes here."

"Yeah..." Enri had a bit of a sullen look on her face for a moment.

The goblin leader spoke up next to Enri, "Let's disperse, troops. Get back to your previous work!"

Goblins on the adventurers' flanks got out from their positions and headed back into the village along with their leader. Tri'ade's party followed suit going into the village proper and leaving the cart near a tree outside of Enri's home.

The Swords of Darkness sat and rested beneath the shade of the tree while Nfirea and Enri talked inside. Tri'ade was going to head towards the village square where he saw some of the villagers getting archery lessons from the goblins when Ninya said, "Wait!"

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry but I'm curious about that magic item you gave the village. Could you tell me about it?"

 _Right, I guess a horn that summons goblins would be an interesting one to adventurers._

"Sure. I was interested to see how the militia training was going but that can wait. What do you want to know about the Horn of the Goblin General?"

"You said something about the goblins being summoned? They don't act like any summons I've ever seen."

"There is also a whole team of them."

 _Hmm, they do seem fairly independent. The ones I summoned did act like mind-controlled slaves. How to explain their number too... Wait, I know. The Scripture referred to the cost of Resurrection as "life-force" rather than exp._

"Well, the Horn of the Goblin General is a magical item born of sacrifice. In order to cast permanency magic in the first place requires a sacrifice of life-force, the amount depending on the level of the spell. The Goblin General who made them sacrificed his own men as fuel for the magic to create his horns. As a result, they can summon a troop of permanent goblin summons who are completely loyal to the summoner but can act on their own. That's the reason for their behavior, they retain a bit of the mind of those who were sacrificed."

"Even if they are goblins, to sacrifice your own men like that..." Dyne replied with a grim look on his face.

"Yeah seriously, what wicked dark magic..." Lukrut replied as he was lying down on the grass.

"Effective though, it enabled him to field a larger force without worry of internal dissent. He sacrificed goblins of opposing tribes at first and then placed the troops summoned by the horns in key positions. Before my old party got to him he assembled a large army and had several horns on him when we defeated him. I've had them ever since."

As Tri'ade finished telling the story and his reasons why he gave them to Enri, the Swords of Darkness had an awed look on their faces and spewed forth further praises upon him for his strength and generosity. Tri'ade felt a bit guilty for lying to them about the Horn of the Goblin general. The truth is, they weren't some mighty magic items from an epic quest to take down a monster general but low-level items you could get from the cash store. They were really only useful for low-level casters. But there was no way in hell he could tell them that, even if he wanted to.

To be honest, Tri'ade was beginning to wonder if he overplayed himself as too powerful given the lavish adoration and occasional looks of envy the Swords of Darkness were giving him. It might be he was still not used to the attention he had received since coming into this world. The NPC's of Nazarick fawning over him was understandable, given they thought he was one of their creators but he didn't quite expect it of the normal people of this world.

He wondered what he should do regarding his own personal party if he was in danger of being perceived as too powerful to be mortal. Two people performing epic deeds as adventurers might be a bit suspicious compared to a normal party of four or more. But he didn't have many servants that could pass as human, to begin with. Perhaps he could bring along some summoned Succubi with him and have them pretend to be a priestess or a rogue to fill out his party. But then having him as the only male in the group might draw attention to him even more. They also wouldn't have the skills those roles would be expected to have.

Tri'ade was sure many adventurers would love to join up with him to, if nothing else, ride on his coattails. But it would be nearly impossible to keep a secret from them for too long. As he thought upon this, Nfirea could be seen leaving Enri's house in a bit of a hurry. When he reached them he was out of breath.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Peter said in concern.

"Sir Tri'ade, I've been hiding something from you."

 _What could this boy possibly have to confess to me about…_

Tri'ade then remembered then the reason Nfirea said he hired him by name in the first place that a customer told him about the incident in the Inn. The shy Nfirea swallowed nervously, but the look on his face was full of determination.

"Actually..."

Before Nfirea could continue, Tri'ade raised his right hand to stop him. "No need to say anything. Let me guess." Using his left hand he reached into his pouch to go through his inventory as to avoid suspicion drawing out a potion of minor healing. Holding it from its top and dangling it in front of him Tri'ade continued, "You want to know about this?"

"Yes! I mean no... What I wanted to say was the real reason I hired you was to learn more about it."

Lukrut stood up and moved closer to take a look at the potion Tri'ade was holding out. "I've never seen a potion like that."

"It's a God's Blood Potion. It's very rare and can't be made by normal methods. I hired Tri'ade after learning he had given one away. I wanted to know what sort of person would have such a potion and what methods would produce such a potion."

God's Blood? So they think even a minor potion of healing is some sort of legendary item... Thank goodness I decided not to give away a potion of moderate or critical healing.. Who knows how they would react to that.

"Makes sense. Any apothecary would love to know that, I would imagine." Dyne said as he was standing beside Lukrut.

"I'm very sorry!" Nfirea bowed to Tri'ade who then put the red potion back into his pouch and set his arms to his sides.

"For what?"

"Eh?"

"I mean... lying about why you hired me is annoying, sure. I'm more curious about what you would do with the knowledge?"

Raising his head up, Nfirea looked at Tri'ade with surprise. "I didn't think that far. I just wanted the knowledge."

At this, Tri'ade chuckled. "Knowing for the sake of knowing, huh? I can relate to that." "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know how they are made. I just found them."

"That's still more than anyone I've ever known. Where did you find them?"

"Discussion for another time. I'd imagine your famous apothecary grandmother would want to know as well. We can discuss it with her when we get back to E-Rantel."

Nfirea was about to object but seemed to decide otherwise. "You're right. Then we should get started."

 _Good, delayed that. Maybe I can think of a plausible lie in the meantime. I could say I found it in some ruins but then they'll probably ask me what ruins…_

As he thought on that, the group did some last minute preparations and proceeded to head out to the Forest of Tob. There was a clearing about a hundred meters from the village in the dense woods that the villagers had cleared out thanks to the protection of the goblins. The source of the wood for the fence now surrounding the village no doubt. Nfirea left the cart behind there.

Tri'ade and the others made their final checks, and then the young man who had hired them spoke up,

"We'll be entering the forest after this, so I'll be counting on you to protect me. That said, the area just inside the forest is part of the Wise King of the Forest's sphere of control, so under normal circumstances, the chances of meeting other monsters are very low. The problem is that the Ogres we met yesterday came from a place near the Wise King of the Forest's territory, so something must've happened. Tri'ade, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Huh?"

 _Shit, what does he know?! Calm down. He can't know anything substantial or he wouldn't just casually ask._

"Why do you ask?"

"Enri told me how you rescued her from those Knights. She said the Wise King of the Forest was with you and stayed behind to protect her while you saved the village."

Triade internally facepalmed. Of course, he had forgotten all about that. "Right. I did tell you I was hunting in the forest when the village was attacked. I heard about the Wise King of the Forest and wanted to test myself against him."

"So the Wise King was what you were hunting?! That's impossible even for you." Lukrut said with a wave of his hand.

Tri'ade shrugged his shoulders. "After I managed to subdue the Wise King, he smelled blood in the air and we found Enri after that."

Lukrut had a look of utter shock "Huh?! You mean to tell me you subdued a legendary creature that's lived hundreds of years AND then saved the village afterward?"

"I've lived a long life too. Spent most of it fighting. You get good at it or you die."

Ninya had a look of realization dawn on her face. "Elves can live for several centuries."

Tri'ade sighed, he was getting tired of trying to explain his strength away to these guys. Part of him thought it might have been less complicated if he developed an alter ego for adventuring but too late for that now. He was always crap at lying. Maybe he wasn't the right person for this job. Tri'ade felt very unprepared for all of this.

"Like I said, I've lived a long life but we're getting sidetracked. I'll message the Wise King to meet us so he can help us out in the forest."

"You can do that?"

"Yes, after I beat him he swore himself to me. Something about recognizing my strength and mercy for sparing his life. Give me a moment alone while I message him."

Tri'ade left the overly awed humans who began eagerly chatting amongst themselves. He messaged Aura.

"[Aura can you hear me?"]"

"[Yes my lord. I'm still overseeing construction of Fort Tob and I'll have a new scouting report for you soon. Is there anything else I can do for you?]"

Tri'ade remembered before going to E-Rantel he had given the Guardians various new tasks to occupy themselves. Aura and Mare were busy in the forest scouting it out and beginning the construction of Fort Tob. A resource stockpile area and the territorial linchpin to better secure the area.

Eventually, Tri'ade wanted Fort Tob to become Castle Tob but they hadn't found a good supply of stone yet. With fortifications, he could leave a small garrison of undead or other low-level servants to secure the forest and to serve as a fallback position if they ever needed it. Leaving his far fewer high-level servants to do other work.

"[Is Hamsuke with you? I need her to come to a clearing near Carne Village. Alone preferably. She can be more useful to me at my side.]"

"[I can send her right away. But are you sure I can't come along too?]"

"[No. I need you in the forest for your current tasks. Besides, I got company and I don't want to reveal you to them."]

"[Aww. Understood, my Lord. I'll make sure Hamsuke gets there quickly.]"

Narberal and Tri'ade went back to the rest of the group and waited around for a bit. Nfirea and the others didn't ask about the "problems in the forest" having forgotten about it in their excitement to meet the Wise King and the fact Tri'ade could call upon him. When Hamsuke emerged from the woods the Swords of Darkness had a look of shock.

"This is the Wise King of the Forest?!"

"Master! I have arrived."

Tri'ade patted Hamsuke's head. "Good work. I know she isn't as fearsome looking as her reputation may suggest but this is the Wise King of the Forest."

"So it is true?! You dominated the Wise King with your strength?!"

"Amazing! What a giant magical beast!"

"I feel great strength and wisdom from him!"

"You accomplished so many great feats! I can see why Narberal sticks so close to you."

"Huh."

Tri'ade was underwhelmed at the humans over-awed expressions to the giant hamster. Sure it had a snake tail but otherwise, it was a giant fluffy creature, not some wise king.

He sighed and speculated that perhaps humans in this world had a natural tendency to idolize or perhaps fear anything stronger than themselves. A natural evolutionary trait perhaps to preserve the species? With so many other stronger races around it could make sense. With everything he's seen of New World humans so far, Tri'ade had slowly come to differentiate them from what he knew of humans on Earth.

"Well, I left the Wise King in the Forest because I didn't think human society would accept her. I think though, the guild might see my worth if I take her back to E-Rantel to get her registered."

"But if you take her from this area won't monsters start attacking En...Carne Village because it is not there to scare them off?"

Tri'ade looked over to Hamsuke and motioned his head to Nfirea. Getting the message, the "Wise King" said, "By village you mean… ah, well, the balance of power in the forest is now in chaos. Even if this one was there, this one would not be able to guarantee their safety by any means."

"No way…"

Trying to comfort Nfirea Tri'ade said. "I gave Enri two Horns of the Goblin General. From the looks of things, she's only used one. If she used the other there would be around forty goblin soldiers protecting the place. I'm not worried."

"Yeah, those goblins look far stronger than any other I've faced."

"It's strange to think of goblins protecting a village rather than ransacking it but they are summoned creatures."

"Still..." Nfirea seemed to remain somewhat hesitant about leaving the safety of Enri, the woman he loves in Carne Village despite the goblins protecting her. Tri'ade could understand that, after all, Carne village did suffer a devastating attack and was now possibly open to monster attack.

It seemed as though the shy young man mustered his resolve to say something. "Tri'ade," Nfirea said with a solemn expression on his face.

"Yes?"

"Please let me become your apprentice!"

"What?"

"I want to protect Enri and the Village! Please teach me even a sliver of your strength! I have confidence in my skills as a healer and I can carry your things! So, please!" Nfirea spoke with passion and reached out to Tri'ade. The Swords of Darkness looked to Tri'ade for his response to the boy's earnest feelings.

"So basically you want to become a powerful enough magic caster?"

"Yes!"

"Have you confessed to Enri yet?"

"W-what?! W-well I... No… No, I have not."

"The road to power is long and fraught with danger. It is not a thing to acquire quickly or easily. You might die in the attempt and by the time you have it, you may find Enri has moved on. I can't in good faith take you on as an apprentice."

"But.."

"She's the reason you're asking for this, is it not? If you are going to dedicate yourself to her, do it properly."

Nfirea blushed scarlet and fidgeted. He no longer could look Tri'ade or the others in the eye. "I-I'm not good enough for her. W-what if she rejects me?"

Tri'ade sighed. This shy, stammering boy reminded him so much of himself when he was younger. Withdrawn, and always so critical of himself. He walked over and grabbed him by the shoulders as he spoke to him.

"How do you expect to become powerful if you are afraid to fail? Besides which, your wrong. You two are perfectly suited for each other. You really need to stop being so hard on yourself."

The Swords of Darkness jumped in on this. They seemed eager to encourage the boy to pursue his love and came closer to their client to cheer him on.

"Yeah, he's right! You always gotta keep trying at love! Your feelings will reach out to her if you try hard enough! "Lukrut said with a wink to Narberal afterward. She glared at him with daggers in her eyes in return.

"Be persistent! It's all over if you give up!" Dyne said apparently agreeing with Lukrut.

"You can do it!

"Everyone...You're right! I'll tell Enri how I feel right now!"

Nifirea tried to leave but Tri'ade held onto the collar of his shirt stopping him in his tracks.

"We've been waiting here for so long. We're going herb picking in the forest now. You can confess to her afterward, alright?"

Almost being dragged behind him, Nfirea followed Tri'ade. "Ah! Alright! Everyone, let's go!"

Thinking better of it now, Tri'ade let go of his collar and the group then proceeded to head deeper into the forest. Nfirea described the medical herbs he wanted to collect and Hamsuke surprised everyone by pointing out the best place to pick them. Though he didn't know what they were called or used for. The beast seemed to have learned at least something living in this one stretch of forest for centuries.

It all went fairly well and the cart in the clearing was practically overburdened with packaged herbs when they were all done. When they got back to Carne village Nfirea went to speak to Enri again and confessed his love for her. In private of course. He didn't need the pressures of an audience on top of all his own insecurities and doubts.

Enri accepted his feelings, of course. But when they were traveling their way back to E-Rantel, Lukrut asked Nifrea about the wedding date. Nfirea had no answer. Apparently, a confession was all the boy could manage to say to his beloved.

Tri'ade shrugged his shoulders at this and thought, _Well, it's a good first step for him. Good for him. This first adventure was more fun than I thought. Better than grinding pest control contracts. I wonder what else awaits me?_

* * *

 **Afterword.**

Well this is a bit later update than I had originally planned, but I had trouble writing a satisfying ending for myself. Mostly due to the whole consequences to the storyline that the premature battle with Hamsuke brought up. But I'm satisfied now and hey, it's the largest chapter yet. You got your "money's worth" so to speak by waiting.

Expect the next update to be a while considering all my other deadline promises. I won't make an estimate but I won't leave you hanging for too long. That said, it surprised me that we got to 150 followers since the last update. You guys really are growing in number. That really lights a fire in me to continue updating as much as I can guys, so keep favoriting and following! It'd be wonderful to have over two hundred of ya'll when the next update is out. Never be afraid to leave a review. I read all of them.

Anyways, in regards to the Windflower Scripture, I was always surprised we don't hear more from them in the Light Novels. I mean, Clementine did stage the whole undead incident essentially to escape them. They were probably in the city looking for her, just couldn't because finding one person lying low in a city is like finding a needle in a haystack. They are probably at the top of the list for grabbing Clementine's body if not Zuranon. Another undeveloped piece of the lore. Oh, I got plans for both of them. :) It's going to be so much fun writing the next chapter. I'm still deciding how some are going to die and how things will play out differently with Tri'ade leading the charge.


	11. Volume 2: Chapter 5: Darkness Rises

_**Volume 2: Fire Lord, Chapter 5: Darkness Rises**_

 _*Proofread by PervySageChuck 1/06/2019_

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-City of E-Rantel**_

It took the party a few days to get back to E-Rantel and by the time they reached the city, the sun had already set. The main road inside the city was lit by magical street lamps enchanted with [Continual Light] that cast a white light onto the street. Most people were off the streets during this time. The only ones were folk returning home from a long day's work.

In that sense, Nfirea and the rest of the party were not so dissimilar from these people. However, everyone on the street was staring and those within the buildings near the thoroughfare opened their windows to gaze upon them. All the while gossiping and talking amongst themselves regarding the group. Tri'ade couldn't hear them that well because they were keeping their distance from the group.

The reason, of course, was the giant hamster named Hamsuke (the hamster formerly-known as the Wise King) walking amongst them. Many of the townsfolk viewed Hamsuke with expressions of surprise, awe, and outright fear. Tri'ade was walking alongside Hamsuke despite protestations from the rest of the group including Hamsuke herself.

They wanted him to ride her into town upon her back. The problem was being a giant hamster, riding her without a saddle would've been awkward in more than one way physically and mentally to Tri'ade. It surprised him though that Narberal agreed with the rest of the group saying, "A ruler should not be walking."

But he put his foot down and staunchly refused to mount Hamsuke. He wasn't going to do something silly and uncomfortable simply for the sake of appearances at the behest of others. Tri'ade also felt given the Swords of Darkness's impressions upon him that he might have overplayed displaying his strength considering how they described it as inhuman. Granted he was pretending to be an old elf adventurer to them but even that cover story had its limits. Mounting Hamsuke and parading into the city would only exacerbate that situation.

After a while, they came into a crossroads on the city's main road and stopped. Tri'ade stated, "Since we're back in town, it seems the assignment is over."

"Indeed, you're right. The request is at an end. But I've never had a haul this plentiful before. I'll be sure to add extra to your payment." Nfirea happily replied.

The wagon behind Nfirea was piled high with herbs. In addition, there was tree bark, strange fruits which looked like branches, a gigantic mushroom that was large enough for a man to put his arms around, extremely tall grasses, and other natural bounties. Tri'ade honestly didn't know anything regarding herbalism in this world so their exact value was lost on him but he assumed, due to Nfirea's mood, that they must be valuable.

"Much was gathered with my help, it was," Hamsuke replied with her head turned towards Nfirea.

"I should go to the Adventurer's Guild to get Hamsuke registered."

"Well, we wiped out those Ogres and other monsters too, so how about it? Want to all go to the Guild together?"

Peter replied: "Hmm... no, I think not. Tri'ade basically did all the heavy lifting for this job, so we should go to Nfirea's shop first to help with the chores and unload the herbs. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to accept getting the same fees as Tri'ade."

The Swords of Darkness nodded as Peter spoke, and Nfirea politely added: "There's no need to trouble everyone…"

"Well, you did agree to pay us a bonus, so consider this a free service on our part."

After hearing Peter's light-hearted statement, Nfirea politely replied, "Then, when you come to our store for potions, we'll give you a discount."

"Nothing would please us more. Then, Mr. Tri'ade, we'll be going to Nfirea's shop then."

"Once I register Hamsuke with the Guild I'll head over to the shop as well."

Lukrut spoke with passion, "Though we'll be apart for only moments I'm sure it'll feel like an eternity! Be strong, Narberal my love!"

"Don't worry that won't be a problem."

Dyne pushed Lukrut forward. "Come on. Let's get moving!"

Waving goodbye, Ninya said goodbye to Tri'ade and his party. When Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness vanished in the distance Narberal leaned in and asked, "Can we trust them?"

"They don't strike me as people who would cheat us. Even if they do they don't have many options in getting away with it."

Narberal nodded and they then proceeded to the Adventurer's Guild. Registering Hamsuke was surprisingly simple. It took around an hour or so to complete. Besides the paperwork, the most time-consuming process was drawing a picture of Hamsuke for the registration. Tri'ade was hardly a professional artist so it looked a little better than a child's rendition of the Wise King. He could have paid apparently for some new world spell to make the picture but Tri'ade didn't want to waste the money on it.

Narberal waited outside of the Guild with Hamsuke considering the giant hamster could not fit through the doors of the building. Tri'ade exited the building pushing aside the two large oak doors past him.

"Sorry that took so long. The paperwork was more than I thought it would be."

"I don't mind waiting."

"The registration was approved Hamsuke, you're now officially my... pet."

"Take great pride in being the pet of a most wondrous master I shall!"

Tri'ade found it strange Hamsuke didn't find the designation as a pet demeaning but shrugged it off as the hamster trying to appease his master. The townsfolk around them began talking amongst themselves as Hamsuke spoke up.

"It talks!"

Two town girls fawned over Hamsuke, "How cute."

"How can a copper-plate afford such a creature?"

"I hear he's actually a famous adventurer and he's merely pretending to be a copper-plate."

"That's ridiculous! Whatever for?"

Soon though a very old woman moved out from the small crowd that had gathered around Hamsuke to come closer to them. "Hey, I know you! Aren't you the man my grandson hired to accompany him on his herb gathering trip?"

"You have me at a disadvantage."

"Oh, excuse my manners. The name is Lizzy Bareare. I'm Nfirea's grandmother."

"Well, you are correct. We were the ones who traveled with your grandson. I am Tri'ade Nazarick and this is Narberal Gamma." Tri'ade pointed to Narberal next to him. "This animal is..."

Interrupting Tri'ade, Hamsuke raised his head up and proudly declared, "Hamsuke, my name it is! Though Wise King of the Forest I used to be."

"What?! This mighty beast is the legendary Wise King of the Forest!?"

Adventurers who were part of the small crowd around them were even more surprised than Lizzy was, whispering among themselves, "Is that really the monster of legends?" and so forth.

"It is. Prior to coming to town, I sought the Wise King out to test my strength against her. I won the contest and the Wise King swore herself to me as a result. She helped us in the request."

"Incredible...the Wise King of the Forest.." Lizzy was seeing stars dumbstruck that this adventurer had tamed a legendary creature. "So... did my grandson make it back okay?"

"Yes, he along with the rest of the group should be back at the shop unloading the herbs we collected. We were about to head back over there for our reward."

"That's where I am heading!" Lizzy said playfully with a smile. "Care to escort a fair maiden?"

Tri'ade smiled back beneath his mask. "I would be happy to."

The party led by Lizzy proceeded through the streets of E-Rantel back to her and Nfirea's shop. Once they reached the storefront, Lizzy took out her keys and looked down at the lock. She pushed the door open without any resistance with no need to unlock the door.

"This is too careless of him. He should know better." Lizzie muttered this to herself as she entered the shop.

"Please come in." Lizzy invited both of them inside while Hamsuke stayed outside still too big to fit within most buildings.

"Nfirea! Mr. Tri'ade is here for his reward!" She looked around in the dark shop for any sign of her grandson moving closer to the front desk of the shop. "Where is that boy hiding?"

"Something's not right." Drawing his great-sword from his back, Tri'ade stepped forward.

"What's wrong?!" Lizzy asked with fear in her voice. Tri'ade ignored her and opened the door to the back. He saw to his right a partially opened door leading somewhere else in the store.

"What room is that?" Tri'ade said pointing his left hand towards the door he saw to his right.

"It's where we store medicinal herbs."

He walked towards the door and opened it fully revealing the gruesome site within. Tri'ade saw Peter lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood with Dyne and Lukrut bent over on the wall. Ninya was laying against the outside door on the far side of the room. Smelling rotting flesh in the air they must've died a while ago, probably when he was at the Guild registering Hamsuke.

"I take my eyes off you guys for a moment and you all die on me." Muttered Tri'ade and then he saw the corpses move. They were getting up on their own and groaning as they turned towards Tri'ade.

"They're zombies!" Screamed Lizzy in terror. He acted quickly to kill the now zombified Swords of Darkness lopping the heads off Peter and Lukrut in one wide strike. He aimed for the necks because of the old zombie stereotype that one needs to destroy their heads. Zombie Dyne raised his mace up to attack Tri'ade, but he cut his head clean off before he managed to complete his attack.

Tri'ade moved his gaze onto Ninya expecting another zombie, but his corpse remained still as the grave.

"I don't see Nfirea among them."

"He's not here."

"Nfirea!" Lizzy screamed and ran towards another part of the store hoping to find her grandson.

"Narberal, keep the old woman out of harm."

"I'm right behind her."

Tri'ade moved towards Ninya's corpse and went down to inspect it. His clothes were in tatters and his body was riddled with pierced holes and small cuts all across the body. As he looked closer he saw the bandages wrapped around him... no, her body. A bloody hole in her chest revealed her bosom and loosened her bindings as a result. Crimson stains were sown all across her body from the numerous wounds he had.

He lifted her head with his left hand to inspect her face. Streams of blood spread across her face, one coming from a cut on her forehead, her eyes, and from her nose. Whoever did this to her gouged out one of her eyes and Tri'ade could see the tear-smeared cheeks with one long tear stream coming from the gouged out eye. Or at least it looked like a tear. When he touched it, it felt like jelly, so it must've been part of the transparent fluid of the eye.

They tortured her to death, slowly from the looks of it. Ninya endured a great deal of pain before being allowed to die from blood loss. He felt a strange mix of emotions as he inspected her. He was furious that someone would dare do this to one of his allies but looking at the tormented state of Ninya he didn't feel an ounce of the disgust he was expecting to feel. He felt that Ninya had a peculiar beauty to her now, battered and colored in her own crimson blood. Tri'ade found himself imagining what her last agonizing moments of life were like. Did she stubbornly resist till the end? Did she beg or plead to her tormentor?

Whoever did this to Ninya was a far more proficient torturer than he was. His attempts at it with the prisoners he had often led to a far too quick death for his liking. It was difficult restraining his strength to only slightly harm them. Tri'ade found himself wishing he had the same sort of skill as evident here when he had tried his hand at torturing the Scripture members he caught. Especially that bastard, Nigun.

Tri'ade shook his head trying to dismiss these thoughts. For they jarred him. He should be disgusted or upset by this, not appreciative of the skill involved. Torturing the Scripture members was different he told himself. They were genocidal murderers. They deserved the pain and agony. Ninya and the Swords of Darkness didn't deserve to die like this. Butchered and then slowly tormented to death. All the potential he saw in them gone, wasted in a single grizzly night. He sighed…

 _I guess I'm really not human anymore…_

Tri'ade focused now on gathering up the bodies and putting them in one corner of the room. After he inspected the bodies and their gear he draped blankets over them from his inventory over their dead bodies. Mostly to prevent them from distracting him further. When he finished with this Lizzy came back into the room with Narberal right behind her.

"I've looked everywhere! My grandson isn't here!"

"Nothing else was taken, so Nfirea must've been the goal of the kidnappers from the start."

"Who were these poor men who got killed?"

"Other adventurers who were hired by your grandson. They were helping him unload the herbs into the shop. The kidnappers must've killed them as they tried to protect Nfirea."

"I'm sorry about your friends."

"I didn't know them well. But they were good companions."

Tri'ade stood up from the bodies and looked directly at Lizzy. "What do you want to do about this?"

"What do you mean?"

"These kidnappers obviously have plans for your grandson's talent. For what, I do not know, but I doubt they would have taken him for anything else. They are necromancers who do not care about hiding themselves given they left behind these zombies for us. Considering the adventurer guild located in the city, the necromancers are either suicidal or they do not believe their plans can be stopped."

Lizzy Bareare turned white, realizing his meaning. Powerful necromancers had taken her grandson away in some nefarious plot. It was true Nfirea's talents were valuable, but would they keep him alive after they made use of him? Every moment that passed, the chances Nfirea would come back alive grew slimmer.

"I doubt there are any in this city that could return your grandson to you alive, save for myself of course."

"Th-That's right... if it was you... the one who possessed that potion… and with the Wise King of the Forest… then there's no doubt about your strength… I'll hire, I'll hire you!"

"The price will be very high considering how much trouble it would cause me to accomplish this service for you. Do you have the means to pay it?"

"How much would you charge an old lady?!"

"Everything."

"What?!" Lizzy was visibly shocked by this and trembling she took a step backward.

"Everything you possess. Your shop, your loyalty, your silence if need be. Everything you possess will be mine when I return Nfirea to you safe and unharmed."

"You fiend! I've heard tales of demons who make deals with humans for their very souls! Is that what you're asking of me now? Are you two really demons?!"

"Devil." Tri'ade said simply correcting Lizzie.

"What?"

"Devils make pacts with humans. A devil embodies pride and they make pacts to satisfy it. Regardless, would it even matter?"

He extended his hand to Lizzy. "Do we have a pact, Lizzie Bareare?"

Lizzy did not respond as she silently bit her lip and stared at Tri'ade's hand. "Are you not willing to pay the price for his life? Time is ticking away and I need an answer."

It was then Lizzy firmly gripped Tri'ade's hand, sealing the pact. "You win. Consider yourself hired, devil!"

"Then let's not waste time. Do you have a map of the city we could use? We might need it to find Nfirea's location."

"Can you do such a thing!?"

"Yes. Please leave me to it. If you wish to be of use search the rest of the shop for clues regarding the kidnappers. I'll inform you when I know his location."

Lizzy then brought them a complete map of the layout of E-Rantel and placed it upon the table before leaving. Narberal across the table from him remarked. "May I ask what you intend?"

Tri'ade smiled "Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Why don't we ask our... friends." Turning to Peter's corpse, Tri'ade knelt down and grabbed his decapitated head within the palm of his gauntlet.

Part of him wanted to recite what little he knew of Hamlet at that moment but he suppressed it. They didn't have the time for fooling around.

"[Speak with the Dead]"

The spell caused glowing black energy to surge forth into Peter's zombified head reanimating it. Its distorted face had a growing look of confusion and fear on it.

"T-Tri'ade?" Peter's head spoke in a weak voice.

Speak with the Dead was a spell unique to Death domain clerics and it allowed them to speak to the deceased through a partial reanimation of the corpse. It was not really [Animate Dead] nor [Raise Dead] so its uses were limited. In YGGDRASIL it was mostly used as a role-playing mechanic considering most team players tended to swap contact information between each other. Hence eliminating any functional use of the spell in the game but here in the New World, it seemed to have its uses.

"It's me, Peter."

"W-What h-happened?"

"You died. All of your team is dead. Nfirea has been kidnapped. I'm using magic to allow you to speak to me. Who took Nfirea?"

"No! Th-they all can't be dead... What happened to Ninya and Nfirea? We told them to run!" Peter's head shook in Tri'ade's hand when he said this.

"She made it to the door but no further. Who took Nfirea, Peter? I can't maintain this spell forever. It's important... I need to know in order to rescue Nfirea."

Peter's head grew quiet for a moment before speaking again. "A strange woman was waiting here for us. She said she needed Nfirea to summon an army of the undead. Something about needing to use a magical item called the Crown of Wisdom to cast the spell. We tried to fight her to buy time for Ninya and Nfirea to escape but... we were cut off by a bald man in robes."

 _Crown of Wisdom? Arthur told me about that. So the thief the Windflower Scripture is searching for is involved in this... Convenient of them to do a villain's monologue._

"Hmm... There is only one place in the city one can summon that many undead, the cemetery. And if there is an undead army they'll likely be at the center of it. Thank you, Peter."

"W-What happens now? I remember only darkness before you came..."

Tri'iade paused a moment, thinking of what to say. "All of creation was born in darkness. The light of life burns only to eventually fade. Death is merely an eternal sleep. There is nothing to fear."

"The priests said we go to the gods after death..."

"Without intervention divine or otherwise death is an ending, not another beginning. An intervention like the magic I am using now for you. But I can restore you and your friends to life if you wish, but I must ask a price for it."

"Y-You can do that?! ... What's the price?"

"That you all serve me for the remainder of your lives."

"That's all?" Peter asked curiously. Sure a lifetime of service was a hefty thing to ask normally but to cheat death it seemed light considering the lack of alternatives.

"Yes. Though it might be more difficult than you imagine."

After pausing for a moment to consider, Peter's head spoke, "I wish to live again, I want my friends to live... Ninya needs to live."

"Good." Tri'ade discontinued concentrating on the spell and Peter's head went slack-jaw in his hand.

"My lord, are you sure about this? What use can these worms be?"

Not bothering to turn to face Narberal, Tri'ade continued looking at Peter's head. "They can help maintain our cover. With them around us, we might appear less strange to the natives and given they know human society they can help us fit into it. I do not wish them to know I am not mortal like them. At least, not yet."

"Oh! Like a predator using grass to conceal itself before a kill! Brilliant, my lord."

"Eh... yes, right. Let us get started."

Tri'ade wondered for a moment whether or not to use [Raise Dead] or [True Resurrection]. He needed to keep secret the true extent of his power but wondered if he could play it off somehow. Tri'ade doubted anyone would believe he was a heroic warrior slash mage slash cleric who could cast tier five spells, they could already barely believe in a warrior mage who could cast tier three.

He dropped Peter's head and reached into his inventory and got out an ivory wand with a front end made out of gold engraved with numerous runes. A wand of resurrection. Being capable of faith-based magic himself he seldom used these wands. They were more designed for other players to be revived who didn't have access to a cleric. But both the Swords of Darkness and Lizzy knew Tri'ade had access to powerful magical items. Why not one more?

A Wand of Resurrection was only charged with the tier five spell [Raise Dead], however. Considering the mutilation and decay of their bodies he doubted the Swords of Darkness could be raised by it. But it could still serve as a prop for him to misdirect what they think resurrected them. For the actual work of resurrection, he would have to use his own [True Resurrection] spell.

Thinking back on it, that might have been where the legend of the Swords of Darkness originated from. The player known as the Black Knight might have attributed his own power to the swords he wielded to try to appear less demonstrably powerful than others himself in order to better fit into society. Oh well, he might've been a chuunibyou who thought it simply sounded cool. He would need to inspect one of the swords to know for sure.

Tri'ade began casting [True Resurrection] with the Wand of Resurrection in hand. He pointed first to Peter, then to Lukrut, Dyne and finally Ninya. He could feel the mana draining from him to feed the spells, casting multiple ninth level spells in quick succession was a bit tiring.

The Swords of Darkness were engulfed by light one by one which mended their bodies and their eyes opened. Ninya rose up immediately sweating as if waking from a nightmare. The others rose up slowly with confused looks on their faces.

"Aaah!"

"What happened?!"

"Huh..."

Peter, as he rose up, felt his neck with his right hand. Perhaps remembering his previously headless state.

Tri'ade with his wand in hand raised it up for the disoriented Swords of Darkness to see. "I brought you back to life with this."

Ninya who was still in her tattered attire looked at the holes and cuts in it with a grim realization that what she experienced was no mere nightmare. It had actually happened. She began to cry. Her companions moved over to comfort her distracted by Ninya's plight rather than focusing on the wand in Tri'ade's hand.

"Ninya, what's wrong?" Lukrut asked. Dyne saw her tattered attire quickly surmised what might be wrong and hugged her from where he lay beside her. Ninya's tears stained Dyne's leather chest piece and he patted her head. "It's alright now. We're safe now."

Considering Ninya saw all her friends die and was then slowly tortured to death, her response to her death was understandable. That said, Tri'ade knew they didn't have much time. The kidnappers were likely summoning an undead army within the town as they sat here. So he stepped forward towards the Swords of Darkness.

"Ninya."

She slowly stopped crying and began wiping away her tears looking up to Tri'ade. "I knew you would save us..."

"We don't have much time... Can you fight?"

She got up and Dyne moved out of her way. "Yes. I-"

One could hear a ripping sound as Ninya's damaged bandages unraveled revealing her small breasts. She cried out in embarrassment she quickly covered up with her hands. Tri'ade stifled a laugh at the sight that reminded him of something straight out of an anime. Granted if he was in one she would be hitting him right now. Thankfully, he was not.

"It's unhealthy, binding them up like that," he remarked.

Ninya stammered something incoherent while blushing scarlet as Tri'ade looked through his inventory via his pouch on his belt. She clearly needed something new to wear. Her old clothes were too tattered and ripped to be of use.

It took him a while to scan through his items though. He didn't have many low-level items she could wear. They were either armor with notable enchantments or robes with enchantments that would likely, in his experience, awe these people. Then he looked at a familiar set of robes. The robes he used as casual wear around Nazarick, the robes of fire resistance which were red with gold embroidery.

 _This ought to do._

Tri'ade pulled the robes out of his pouch and handed them over to Ninya who was still hiding her chest. "You can wear this."

Narberal who was beside him had a look of surprise on her face as he handed it over to Ninya. "That is..."

"Thank you." Ninya looked to the others. "Please turn away."

The Swords of Darkness awkwardly agreed and Tri'ade did so silently. Narberal continued to look at Ninya as she draped the red robe over her. Ninya informed them when she was finished. While she was suitably covered in the robe, her lack of a bra underneath it was noticeable.

It reminded him of the time Albedo tried on his Robe of Fire Resistance and how it seemed to cling to her as well. It shouldn't have of course, the thing should have been far too big for Albedo or even Ninya now to wear but he found out magically enchanted gear formed to fit the wearer regardless of its previous size.

Tr'iade tried in vain to push away that image of Albedo dressed only in a red robe that clung to her curves so well. It had been over two weeks since they had left the Great Tomb for E-Rantel and most of that time he had been traveling with the Swords of Darkness.

He had to admit that he was beginning to miss Albedo. Though perhaps more accurately, he missed what they did together. He didn't know whether it was because he wasn't a virgin anymore or just his new body, but his increased libido was quite frustrating. Everyone was watching him, including those shadow demons that were there for his own protection, so handling it as he did in his old life was impossible.

Tri'ade awkwardly looked to Narberal as he thought this before saying to Ninya, "Anyway... I'll want my robe back after tonight. If you are ready, we should go to the cemetery."

"Hold up!" Lakrut said in a loud voice trying to get his attention with his hands being raised up. "The last thing I remember was fighting this crazy woman and waking up here. What happened?"

Before he could explain it himself Narberal spoke up bluntly stating: "You are all now servants of my master. Be thankful, worms."

"What?"

Tri'ade sighed at Narberal's way with words. Peter stepped up.

"It's true. I, uh… I agreed for us all to serve him in exchange for bringing us all back to life."

"You can do that?!" Exclaimed Lukrut in shock while Dyne and Ninya were speechless.

Raising up the Wand of Resurrection once again for the Swords of Darkness to see without interruption this time, Tri'ade explained, "This is a Wand of Resurrection. It's a powerful artifact that can bring the dead back to life."

"Amazing," Dyne said in wonderment.

"But it's power isn't unlimited. It can only be used a number of times before becoming nothing more than a fancy paperweight. I used this incredibly expensive artifact so I expect to be repaid."

Ninya turned and looked at Peter with a grim expression "So wait... Peter, you agreed for us to become slaves to repay our debt?"

Putting his hand behind his head Peter replied, "It's better than the alternative."

"Servants, not slaves, but we can work it out later. There's an undead army that demands our attention."

Peter and Tri'ade explained what had happened while they were dead and that they needed to go to the graveyard to help stop the undead rising from their graves in order to save Nfirea.

When they had gotten ready to leave the shop, he had Narberal bring Lizzy back to the storeroom.

Lizzy stared at the newly alive in shocked awe. "Y-you're alive?"

Tri'ade replied with a simple answer, "They made a pact with me same as you."

"Oh..." Lizzie had a look of awed resignation on her face.

"Anyway, we have a lead on where Nfirea is but the people responsible are raising an army of the undead as we speak. I need you to warn the townsfolk and adventurers guild about it. Please be quick."

Tri'ade turned to move towards the exit of the shop when Lizzie stopped him. "Hold it! How do you expect to defeat an army of the undead?"

 _Not again._

"Heh, what a silly question."

"What?"

"After agreeing to our pact you think a horde of undead can stop me?"

Tri'ade stared at Lizzie Bareare who looked back with wide eyes in silence. After seeing the Swords of Darkness alive again and how confidently Tri'ade spoke she was almost ready now to believe anything regardless of how impossible it sounded. But she still feared for her grandson.

"You shall get what you paid for." Looking towards Peter and the rest of the party he commanded, "Let us go."

* * *

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-City of E-Rantel-Slums District**_

Tristan was asleep in his bedroll situated underneath a bridge. He was catching what shut-eye he could between duty rotations. The Windflower Scripture was stretched thin searching the city for Clementine and the Crown of Wisdom. Several days ago they had found evidence of her handiwork in one of E-Rantel's back alleys. A corpse had been dumped in a nearby sewer drain with signs that the man had been slowly tortured to death. So they knew she was still here, but the trail was cold when they arrived. They also had to keep tabs on the exits of the city to prevent her from easily escaping.

Normally, sleeping like this would be asking for trouble but Tristan was still in his plainclothes and to anyone else he would look more like a homeless bum not worthy of their attention. In any city, there were the dregs of society which most of the other people in the town preferred to pretend didn't exist. It was easy to be invisible when people didn't want to even look at you.

There were downsides of course, given how the poor were treated but nothing the spell disguise self couldn't solve to assume a more dignified visage. The ability to blend in was a crucial skill for anyone in the Windflower Scripture whose duty it was to gather information for the Theocracy. Still, despite the disguise, he had placed an alarm spell around his resting place for his own security but that wasn't what woke him up.

"Agent Seven! Wake up, Agent Seven! Respond."

It was the voice of his Captain ringing in his head. He was trying to reach him via message. Only other members of the Windflower Scripture knew each other's code name. Unlike the Black Scripture, members were referred to as Agents rather than Seats. It was the same for the Clearwater Scripture denoting their status as a force dedicated more towards information gathering and sabotage rather than combat prowess. According to tradition, the Gods of Wind and Water themselves dictated this difference in terminology at the time of their founding nearly six hundred years ago though none knew why.

It served well as a means of identification in message magic since such messages could be from anyone and the means to mimic other people's voices can be done fairly easily by magicians skilled in illusion magic. In the past, a magical nation which relied heavily on such spells fell due to a campaign of deliberate misinformation by their enemies to sow chaos.

It must have been urgent to have resorted to such unreliable means of communication, normally they would have a meeting to relay new orders to other members of the Windflower Scripture or a drop off if the situation required it.

"Message received, Agent Sixteen."

"We got a situation developing in the cemetery. Agent Twelve and Ten report spotting large numbers of undead rising there. I need dedicated eyes there now to recon the situation."

"Roger, Agent Sixteen. Will proceed to the objective and report as soon as I learn something."

From what he remembered, Agent Twelve was situated near the city walls to try to spot any attempts at escape from the air. The captain needed to maintain a net around the city as frankly loose as it was to prevent Clementine from escaping. So, of course, she had to wake him up and probably other off-duty agents for this new situation.

One could say they could ignore a few undead rising in the cemetery but if it was as large as Agent Twelve and Ten reported, it might endanger the rest of the Scripture operating in the city. It would also be a situation the Cardinals would want answers for when they got back to the Theocracy.

"[Prestidigitation]"

Tristan cast the simple cantrip to quickly clean himself up and got his black robes and mask on. He would need to stick to being unseen but would need to travel fast to the cemetery so he cast another one of his spells.

"[Fly]"

Sticking close to the buildings he flew upward and continued to hug the rooftops of E-Rantel traveling along them in the direction of the massive cemetery of the city. Though he never actually touched the roofing tiles so all one would hear from his passage was the wind blowing past him.

Soon enough, the houses and other buildings of E-Rantel gave way to the trees surrounding the cemetery grounds which were all without leaves given it was late in the Fall season. Leaves scattered on the ground as he lowered himself closer to the ground. There was no more cover from the buildings so he would have to make it as far to the cemetery as he could on foot.

He could have cast invisibility on himself but he would need to pace himself for this mission. Given there was reportedly an army of undead he would need to conserve his mana lest he found himself neck deep in undead without any means of escape due to exhausting his spells early on.

There was also the local guardsmen to worry about. Being spotted by an undead may pose an immediate threat but guardsmen may find it suspicious that a man of his abilities wasn't helping defend the city in this sort of situation. They may even suspect him of being a party to those responsible and try to capture him for interrogation.

"[Darkvision]"

Another tier two spell, [Darkvision] granted the caster the ability to see in the dark like many demihumans could do. Tristan cast this so he could have an advantage seeing guardsmen that should be stationed on the nearby wall of the graveyard.

To avoid rustling the leaves on the ground he chose to hover just above it, continuing to use his fly spell from earlier. He went from tree to tree easily using them as potential cover should he see anything.

He saw on the horizon the wall of the cemetery and heard the clamor of fighting. It seemed the reports of a large amount of undead were true. The guardsmen assigned to guarding the cemetery were being overwhelmed on their battlements.

They began a retreat off the wall unable to hold it any longer. No one wanted to be stuck on the walls surrounded by undead after all. Any living being wishes for an avenue of escape... survival. But whatever advantage they held in holding the walls dissipated as a giant mound of moving corpses appeared towering behind the wall.

 _A Necrosome Giant. This is bad. If the undead isn't stopped, even stronger undead will start to appear._

"[invisibility]"

Tristan used his invisibility spell now to fly up to confirm his fears. At his height, he could see well into the cemetery. Wave after wave of undead appeared before him. Thousands of skeletons and zombies along with a few other Necrosome Giants could be seen shambling out in all directions.

The giant of an undead he spotted earlier went over the wall of the cemetery to whale upon the guardsmen who retreated from the walls. They were in a tight formation with undead all around them.

While they managed to hold off the lesser skeletons off with their spears the necrosome giant crushed one of them with its balled fist. It hit with great force and forced the remaining guardsmen to scatter. Demoralized and with no hope of victory, the scattered guardsmen ran.

Having seen enough, he contacted the Captain with a message spell. "This is Agent Seven reporting."

"Agent Sixteen here. What do you have for me?"

"Confirmed sighting of undead in the cemetery. Thousands of skeletons and zombies. Spotted at least half a dozen Necrosome Giants. Cemetery guards are completely overwhelmed and there's little stopping the undead from entering the residential district."

"Damn it! Seen any adventurers?"

"Not yet."

"I'll send someone over to the Guild and see if they started mobilizing yet. Keep your distance and watch the progress of the undead."

"Roger."

Sixteen would likely send another agent over in plainclothes pretending to be a resident fleeing from the undead over to the guild. Both to warn the adventurer's guild if they weren't aware already and to see if they had begun assembling adventurers.

For an undead outbreak this size they likely would need to round up every adventurer in the city and organize a counter-offensive. From what Tristan could remember from the report there weren't any adamantine ranked adventurers that based themselves in E-Rantel. The highest was Mythril rank.

That was a problem if Clementine was involved in this. As a former member of the Black Scripture, she herself was equivalent to an adamantine adventurer. It would be a different story if the adventurers could gang up on her but with the number of undead, they would have difficulty just containing them. Tristan could only hope she wasn't involved but it wouldn't surprise him if that sociopath was.

As he thought this, the undead continued their advance towards the residential district gate. To avoid any flying undead that might appear Tristan rose far up in the air above the encroaching undead.

"[Enhance Vision]"

The spell, as it implied, further enhanced Tristan's vision providing him with the ability to see over four hundred feet away. Coupled with his dark vision he could see the undead clearly advancing below him despite how far he flew up. It was a common tactic for Windflower operatives to gather intelligence by flying in high and using vision enhancements to monitor an area.

Even among the Black Scripture, they had at least one of their members trained in such tactics with far superior vision enhancements. It was said the 11th seat could see miles out to a targeted area and could spy upon opponents thousands of miles in the area beyond the detection of even the most paranoid of opponents.

A bright eruption of flames flashed across his field of view straining his eyes. Scores of undead that were approaching the gate of the residential district were destroyed and stepping forth from the gatehouse was a familiar sight, a man with a golden mask.

Tri'ade, the man responsible for the Sunlight Scripture's defeat and alongside him was that raven-haired beauty he saw before along with others he didn't recognize. Trailing behind them was this great furry beast that was unknown to him.

The adventurers drew their weapons and began fighting the undead pushing them back. When the Necrosome Giant from earlier approached them a bolt of lightning sprung forth from the raven-haired girl's fingers and struck the giant down in one blast, electrifying the monstrosity. The lesser undead fell quickly before the adventurers and they began pushing the horde back to the perimeter wall of the cemetery.

The undead was still trying to climb the walls and tear down the gate but none of the skeletons had weapons so they resorted to hammering it with their fists. Tristan focused his vision upon Tri'ade while they were up against the wall. He was saying something to the rest of his party but Tristan couldn't make it out from this distance and pointed his sword to the center of the graveyard.

Jumping down from the wall into the graveyard proper Tri'ade fought along with his raven-haired companion against the undead, clearing them out from the immediate vicinity of the cemetery gate. Tristan saw him leaving the giant beast and the rest of his party behind to push further into the undead horde.

 _They must be going after the source of the undead._

It was the smart move to eliminate whatever was the cause of the undead. No matter how strong someone was, constant fighting would take its toll even on someone who was strong enough to defeat the Sunlight Scripture. Mana and stamina both would be drained to their breaking point if one tried to eliminate thousands upon thousands of undead in single combat.

Not to mention given the sheer number of undead it would be impossible to contain them without a few slipping past. The lone skeleton may not have been much of a threat to someone trained in combat like a guardsman, but civilians were a different story. Each death caused by those that slipped past would generate negative energy in the area and would make it likely that their victims would become undead themselves. Stopping the undead as quickly as possible by defeating whoever was responsible for raising them was critical to saving lives.

There were great risks to doing that. Obviously, not even taking into account the undead you would have to get past, whoever was responsible would be a necromancer of the highest caliber and would have prepared themselves for such heroes trying to interfere in their plans.

The undead was still attacking with many of them being dispatched by that large beast Tri'ade left behind along with the rest of his party. Still, this was a good development. The undead were no longer threatening to pour into the residential district at least on this side of the cemetery. There was another gatehouse on the far side to the east to worry about.

Before he went to check on it, he wanted to give an update to his captain so he messaged her again.

"Agent Seven and I have good news."

"Sixteen here and I would really want to hear it about now."

"Adventurers arrived from the western gate to the cemetery. Tri'ade Nazarick was with them and he brought along a giant magical beast. They pushed back the undead and retook the perimeter wall of the graveyard. He and that beauty of his went alone, pushing deeper into the graveyard."

"That is good news, Seven. Reports from the eastern gate aren't so rosy. The Giants broke down the gate and the undead poured into the residential district before the Adventurer's Guild could mobilize. They are fighting in the streets and it's chaotic over there. I had to withdraw agents from the area to avoid getting caught up in it."

Tristan sighed, it was times like these where he regretted his unit's primary purpose was intelligence gathering. Even when he saw demi-humans or other monsters murdering innocent people, protocol didn't allow him or the others to intervene. The only reason they were even there in E-Rantel was to track down Clementine and keep track of her until one of the other Scriptures could be tasked with killing that blasted traitor. If she escaped from E-Rantel, she could hide in far too many places for them to ever find her again if she really wished to vanish.

It would've been difficult to bring her down even if the Windflower Scripture did try to do it on their own. Nearly all of their members were either rogues or illusionists of some sort. They specialized in deception and misdirection but against an opponent like Clementine, they would need a skilled fighter to bring her down.

"Agent Seven, I need you to continue observation on Tri'ade Nazarick."

"What?! They are going to the source of the undead! I'll need some backup for that."

"Denied. All other agents are busy and you're the only one in position to do this. I need eyes on them. If they fail we'll likely need to withdraw from E-Rantel. Besides we need to know if Clementine is involved."

A figurative light bulb was felt above Tristan's head when he realized what Sixteen meant.

"You think whoever is behind this used the Crown of Wisdom? Impossible! How would they find someone to use it?"

Only select girls could become Miko Priestesses and wear the Crown of Wisdom. It was so rare only one in several hundred thousand could use the artifact. The only reason the Theocracy could find any candidates at all was due to the national registry and genealogical records the state kept on its citizens. The odds of Clementine finding someone on her own to wear it were astronomical.

"Seventh tier magic of this scale is beyond what mortals are capable of. Either the Crown of Wisdom is being used or a Demon God is behind this. In any case, we need to know."

After pausing to think on it, he knew Sixteen was right. "Understood. I'll keep to high altitude and do remote reconnaissance."

"May the gods watch over you." Sixteen ended her message spell.

Swallowing his fears, Tristan just hoped there were no flying undead deeper in the cemetery as he soared through the air towards his new objective.

* * *

 **Afterword**

Well, this chapter took far longer than I ever intended. Way too many factors in play but one of them was simply getting the time to concentrate on writing it. Stumbled after a bit of writer's block during the resurrection scenes for Darkness. I had originally planned for it to go very differently so I had to rewrite the entire thing. I also drifted to writing the more engaging battle scene in the cemetery that I decided to put in the next chapter so that is already written out.

Besides that, I found it very easy to write for Tristan and the Windflower Scripture part. Honestly, the more I think about them the more interesting to me they become. They are essential fantasy magical spies doing work in the name of their god and humanity. So they can do traditional spy-work in human nations while doing riskier reconnaissance in demi-human lands.

It's a pity they weren't expanded more in the Light Novels. We basically never hear from them again after E-Rantel and their spotlight was stolen from them by the 11th seat of the Black Scripture later on. In the Web Novel they, not the Thousand League (or mile) Astrologer, witnessed Ainz's moment of awesomeness summoning his dark young on the field of battle.

Maps of E-Rantel besides the one shown in the anime aren't available so I based the cemetery location on the south-eastern portion of the anime's map. Where there is lot of space between the outermost wall and the other wall. As well as assuming there are interior gatehouses and divisions of districts to make the Fortress city well... like an actual fortress.

Skeletons wouldn't be an issue for these gates with them being unarmed mobs but I would imagine the Giants could act as battering rams for the undead army to smash through to make the army a credible threat to the city. As well as the important element of surprise and the defenders of E-Rantel not expecting the attack coming.

In my head canon, Ainz arrived quickly on the scene and warned the adventurer's guild earlier than Tri'ade could given he had to spend more time in the shop with Darkness. So less story characters might have died so far but I feel more innocent civilians and background extra's probably would have suffered as a result. Not that anyone cares about poor Timmy and his mother living the city.


	12. Volume 2: Chapter 6: Moonlit Stroll

_**Chapter 10: Moonlit Stroll**_

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-City of E-Rantel-Graveyard District**_

Looking back, Tri'ade could no longer see the Swords of Darkness nor the perimeter wall they were guarding. He swung his great-sword swatting away the undead that pestered him like annoying gnats. They were no threat but they did get in the way.

Now, however, with no witnesses he could let his true power loose. A vortex of black negative energy surrounded Tri'ade and he held up an amulet in his left hand. It was made of simple iron and in the middle, there was a simple depiction of a spear that looked more like an upwards arrow sign.

"[Turn Undead!]"

As Tri'ade held the amulet up, the vortex of black energy around him expanded to encompass the surrounding area. Black tendrils of energy seemed to seep into the undead all around him and they stopped their useless attempts at attacking him.

He could feel the mental connection he had with these puppets of bone and meat, just like those that had formed when he had summoned those angels before.

[Turn Undead] was a classic ability of clerics in RPGs and made clerics a fearsome opponent against the undead. Not to mention all the holy spells they had at their disposal and the undead's inherent weakness to them.

It was an ability that normally dealt positive energy damage based on your level, but undead had to survive a turning check roll to avoid instant-death if they were your level or lower. Turning was one of the few things that could instantly kill undead due to their death magic immunity.

The reason for that in the lore was that [Turn Undead] was an explosion of positive energy, the energy directly opposing the force which animates undead. So if the positive energy completely overwhelmed the negative energy of the undead they would instantly collapse like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

But what if the Cleric served a god of death or an evil deity? That question led the developers to do an update, changing [Turn Undead] and basing its effects on the karma of the individual using it. Those of negative karma would channel negative energy when using [Turn Undead].

Naturally one couldn't damage undead using negative energy so the effects of [Turn Undead] had to change. Instead of damage, those of negative karma could rebuke enemy undead temporarily, causing a fear-like effect stunning them in place. The undead which failed the turning check would instead be brought under his control rather than destroyed.

There were numerous downsides to this despite the prospect of seizing control of undead minions for yourself. One minus was that [Turn Undead] no longer did any damage and the stun was only temporary, so it was far less useful in most situations. The number of undead one could control was also capped to prevent abuse of it in-game, which happened quite often when it was first introduced.

Overall, it seemed like a downgrade in most respects after the devs nerfed it, but they tried to balance it out by giving evil clerics the ability to bolster undead using the ability. One could use [Turn Undead] upon their own commanded or summoned undead to improve their rolls against an opponent's [Turn Undead] and improve their physical stats. Basically making it as a support ability for those undead a cleric had under his command.

Tri'ade looked around him to see all the undead now under his direct control while trying to spot any that still weren't. But he saw no more hostile undead around him.

 _Weak undead. I wonder how many of them I can control?_

Undead control and the number of them one could normally control was limited based on a person's level in relevant classes like Necromancer, but he was unsure if it was the same in this world. Not to mention many of the inhabitants of this world were incredibly weak compared to him. He should be able to control a large number of undead without any problems.

Deciding to test this out as he encountered more undead shambling towards him, he used [Turn Undead] again and again. Each time collecting more undead minions which he proceeded to give a simple guard command. They would no longer advance towards the living but stand guard where they stood, attacking anyone who would approach. He didn't want other adventurers barging in and complicating matters.

Narberal walked behind him as they proceeded down the path through the cemetery. As they continued further into the graveyard he heard the voice of one of his shadow demons messaging him.

"Master. We've spotted someone following you."

Tri'ade looked around and didn't see anything.

"Where?"

"Several hundred meters above you. They seem to be using a low tier invisibility spell."

 _Must be part of that Windflower group Arthur told me about._

Still, he wondered how the spy was trying to observe him from that high up. Did he have some manner of binoculars or was it some sort of spell? In the end, Tri'ade figured it didn't matter. He couldn't let Windflower pry into his affairs here today.

"[Create Middle Tier Undead]"

A ghostly form appeared before him looking like an amalgamation of twisting faces writhing in misery. It was a High Wraith and one of its most useful abilities was its aura of fear and ability to phase through solid objects.

"What's wrong?" Narberal asked beside him with a surprised look.

"We might have a voyeur nearby. I'm going to teach him a lesson about watching without permission."

"[True Sight]"

[True Sight] was a sixth tier divination spell that can grant the target true-sight for a time. It was basically a counter-spell to most illusion based magic of the sixth tier and below that dealt with image trickery or disguises. As most illusion based spells of the seventh tier and above were illusions that were quasi-real like the [Shades] spell or a spell like [Greater Shadow Evocation] that mimicked evocation spells for illusionists.

With it on the High Wraith, it could now easily see anyone trying to hide from it using low tier invisibility magic. So Tri'ade commanded it to fly up to confront the little peeper. Not with orders to kill the man though. Just to chase him off.

It would be more interesting to see what Arthur might do later. Considering that man apparently had a friend within the Windflower Scripture and was the nephew to a Cardinal, word might reach it back to him what Windflower had learned here. Would Arthur tell him everything? Would he confront him about his ability to summon undead? It would be a suitable test of his convictions and his usefulness, thought Tri'ade.

Though that hinged on him being right about it being Windflower up there. It might have been a spotter in service to the necromancers here. Tri'ade would need to contact the shadow demons accompanying Arthur and get a description of the man's attire from them.

The Sunlight Scripture all had matching uniforms which seemed counterproductive to a supposedly covert unit but it might prove useful here with Windflower. He could cross-reference the descriptions of what his shadow demons saw of the man's attire with those accompanying Arthur to confirm his suspicions.

That would have to wait of course. He still had to deal with the necromancers and rescue Nfirea first.

They encountered more undead along the way and he kept using his [Turn Undead] ability several more times until eventually, they stopped appearing. It was good though cause he had about used up half his usages for that ability for today when he approached a Chapel.

Tri'ade could now see a group of people circling each other chanting something he could not quite make out. As he and Narberal drew closer, he could see one of the blacked robed men whisper in the ear of a bald old man in red robes with a necklace of golden circlets. From these circlets three skulls of small creatures were attached, none of which he could identify.

"Master Khajiit, they are here."

 _Sweet! I have a name. This is a great start._

"Khajiit! I see that you're having a party here. Mind if we crash it?"

Khajiit had a look of surprise and looked over to the man who had spouted his name earlier and the man gasped, realizing his mistake.

"Humph. Since you know my name how about sharing yours?"

Tri'ade smiled. "Oh no, our names are unimportant. We are nothing more than simple adventurers here to stop your nefarious plans..." Tri'ade's voice was dripping with sarcasm and a mocking undertone. "Oh, if you could point us to Nfirea before we start it would be appreciated."

The others surrounding Khajiit took a defensive stance, surrounding him and making them clear collaborators. Tri'ade saw something within the entrance of the Chapel trying to remain within the shadows but looking out at them.

Thanks to his dark-vision, however, he could see them clearly, but they were robed, hiding any discernible feature save for their face looking at him from the darkness. From what he could tell it looked like a blonde woman.

Considering what Darkness told him of the woman that attacked them she fit the rough description of the one that tortured Ninya, and according to Arthur, the one who stole the Crown of Wisdom. The former Black Scripture member named Clementine. Before he could contemplate on this more, Khajiit spoke again.

"Just the two of you? Where is the rest of your party? There is no way you made it through the undead alone."

He smiled again beneath his golden mask. Tri'ade loved it when his enemies underestimated him. It made their realizations all the sweeter when they found out how wrong they were. He discovered that sadistic pleasure with the Sunlight Scripture.

"It might be difficult for some but for me... it was a lovely moonlit stroll. But you're one to talk with your comrade hiding in the chapel." Tri'ade raised his voice, "Clementine! It's useless to hide. I know you are in there. Come on out!"

The apprentices around Khakiit gasped in surprise but their master was cold faced. Suddenly a female voice rang out from the chapel.

"Fu fu. You've certainly done your homework."

A young woman covered in a black robe slowly emerged into the light, and every step she took was accompanied by the clattering of metal against metal.

Khajiit turned his head towards the woman with an annoyed look on his face. "Go back in."

"Aw, Khajiit! This fella has figured us out! No point in it now." Clementine grinned at the continued look of annoyance on Khajiit's face at which she stuck out her tongue at him. She leaned up against the wall of the Chapel as she looked at Tri'ade.

"Come on! Don't you wanta tell sweet little ole me your name? You already know mine."

"Hmm, alright. I am Tri'ade and beside me is my lovely assistant, Narberal."

Narberal's eyes widened and she became a little red-faced after Tri'ade's compliment. Their opponents, however, were not so flustered.

"I've never heard those names before… how about you?" Clementine asked of Khajiit.

"I haven't heard of it either and I've gathered information on all the high ranked adventurers in the city, so how is it I've never heard of a Tri'ade among them? Still, how did you know we came to the cemetery?"

Tri'ade paused before answering "You're asking me how I knew necromancers would be here..." He put his left hand to his face and rubbed his forehead beneath his mask "Other than it being painfully obvious?"

The leader of the necromancers was taken aback by this. Before he could respond, one of his apprentices spoke up with a look of realization on his face.

"Master! I believe I have heard of him."

"What? Go on, spit it out!"

The apprentice recoiled from his master's verbal lashings and stammered out.

"W-well, from what I've heard, someone named Tri'ade saved the village of Carne and the Warrior-Captain himself from the Theocracy."

Tri'ade did a slight bow at being recognized. "That would be us."

"Why haven't I heard anything of this before now! You fool!" Khajiit punched his apprentice in the gut which forced him down to the ground in pain, holding his stomach.

"Ah, don't get so worked up, Khajiit. Look at their plates. Not even worth adding to my collection."

Khajiit squinted his eyes and looked at the adventurers' plates dangling from Tri'ade's and Narberal's necks.

"Copper plates? You've got to be joking. No pair of copper plates could get past the undead here."

He rested his great-sword on his shoulder. "Appearances can be deceptive... But before we begin, I am curious. Why are you seeking to destroy this city? Is it revenge?"

Turning his head, Khajiit scoffed at Tri'ade's speculation. "This is no petty vengeance. This place will become a city of undeath. With the negative energy produced by the slaughter I will power my ascension to immortality!"

Being stunned into silence by this proclamation Tri'ade took a moment before responding.

"So cliche."

"What did you say?!"

"Your motivations, your plans, everything about you is a cliche. Completely overdone and inane. I bet the reason you learned necromancy was to try to bring your dead lover back to life?"

"You're mocking me?! Fool! You have leaped to your doom and don't even realize it. You're in the land of the dead! My domain!

"He-he, he's a momma's boy. I doubt any other girl has ever interested him... "

The cliche necromancer turned his head back to Clementine with a face red with anger, a sight which Clementine seemed to delight in.

"Shut it, bitch! Whose side are you on anyway?!"

Tri'ade shrugged. "I suppose it's time to erase a cliche."

Pointing his left hand out towards Khajiit, he cast the spell, "[Circle of Death!]"

A sphere of negative energy enveloped Khajiit and his followers. The followers died almost immediately, collapsing from the spell's effects but the rough looking orb Khajiit carried glowed brightly. It seemed to be able to divert the energy around him and absorb it. Tri'ade had never seen anything quite like it.

[Circle of Death] is a sixth tier necromancy spell which did negative energy damage to its targets with a chance to inflict instant kills should the target fail to resist it. It had a sixty-foot radius and could be targeted anywhere within line of sight. Basically, it was an improved version of the third tier [Negative Energy Burst] spell.

Tri'ade figured that since Khajiit was so low level he wouldn't be able to resist the spell's death magic given the difference in power between them. He was also limiting himself to tier six since he had heard that was the known limit to what humans were capable of.

Khajiit laughed. "Impressive. That spell supplied me with a tremendous amount of negative energy."

"That bauble you have is quite interesting."

"You might be skilled but it won't save you, fool! With the power of the Jewel of Death all who stand against me will serve me in death."

Narberal who stood beside him had an aggravated look on her face. "Human tick! How dare you speak like that to my Master?!"

"I'll call him a fool if I like it! You will fuel my ascension to immortality with your deaths."

Raising his hand up high with the Jewel of Death in hand it glowed brightly once again. However, nothing seemed to come of it until a large gust of wind came up behind them. When Tri'ade turned to see what it was, a large dragon appeared before his eyes. But unlike other dragons, this one looked like a crude skeletal assembly of bones. It was flying in the air despite everything Tri'ade knew about aerodynamics with its tattered wings.

The skeletal dragon attempted to attack Tri'ade, but he easily sidestepped it. The dragon then flew over him to Khajiit's side acting as his shield in front of the caster.

Laughing maniacally, Khajiit exclaimed, "This Skeletal Dragon is completely immune to magic! There isn't a caster in the world who can stand against it! Now, using the very energy you foolishly provided, I will make your deaths a certainty."

Raising his jewel once more, it glowed bright and erupting from the ground came up a second Skeletal Dragon.

Looking from the skeletal dragons back to the Chapel, Tri'ade noticed that Clementine seemed content to watch the battle unfold from afar but he doubted that would remain the case if she saw Khajiit losing. Other adventurers were also likely coming here to try to stop the undead horde at its source and Windflower might try sending another spy his way.

Tri'ade also wanted to capture Clementine, preferably without the Theocracy or the city authorities knowing about it. Time wasn't on his side in this. If he held any hope of capturing Clementine, he would need to quickly eliminate Khajiit. Ideally in a way that didn't reveal too much of his power.

Khajiit held up the Jewel of Death once more and Tri'ade got an idea to settle this battle quickly. The jewel once more glowed as Khajiit gave commands to the skeletal dragons.

"Kill these fools who stand in my way!"

The dragons charged at both Tri'ade and Narberal who deflected their claws. With his sword drawn in his right hand holding back the dragon, he reached out his left hand to cast another spell, silently for the element of surprise, [Telekinesis].

The target being the Jewel of Death itself. Khajiit tried holding onto the jewel with both hands, dropping his staff, but the force pulling was too much for him and he fell face to the ground after it slipped out of his hands.

Clementine who was watching laughed. "What was that?!"

The dark orb then flew into Tri'ade's outstretched hand. As the jewel rested in his hands he felt something speak directly to him as if it were a message spell.

"Greetings to you, oh mighty King of Death."

"Not the time for pleasantries. Are you controlling these dragons?"

"Yes. They are yours now, my Lord."

"Kill Khajiit."

"Yes, your majesty!"

The jewel glowed once again as it sent commands to the Skeletal Dragons in front of Khajiit. He got up from the ground to see one of his own Skeletal Dragon raising its claws at him. As Khajiit tried to maintain his composure, he cast defensive magic.

"[Skeletal Wall]"

A skeletal wall of bone jumped up from the ground to block the dragon's approach.

"I won't let it end like this! I..." Khajiit turned to get some distance from the skeletal dragon in front of him but was met by the second skeletal dragon Khajiit had summoned, the one summoned with the very negative energy Tri'ade unwittingly gave him.

The skeletal dragon bit down upon his torso having its large skull tilted to the side to fit Khajiit into its mouth. If Khajiit was a warrior with armor on he might have been able to survive the attack but he wasn't.

He cried out in agonizing pain and the Skeletal Dragon bit and chewed upon his unprotected flesh, ripping him in half with blood and gore spraying across its maw. A grizzly scene lay before him but Tri'ade could only laugh at the irony of a necromancer being killed by the undead he had summoned.

 _Though I guess in all technicality it was the Jewel of Death that summoned them._

"Hahahaha. Well, that was fun." Tri'ade turned his sights on Clementine who was wide-eyed at the quick reversal in the battle. She then smiled a demented grin.

"I never expected Khajiit to be defeated like that! Clever... wish I had thought of it. You're definitely no copper plate."

The Skeletal Dragons moved to the sides of the chapel's entrance to block Clementine's easy means of escape. Tri'ade and Narberal moved forward and Clementine stayed in the entrance.

It was a sound move on her part tactically. After all, the Skeletal Dragons couldn't hope to reach her in there and it was a natural choke-point. But it didn't leave her much room to maneuver and left her trapped unless Khajiit had made some sort of escape tunnel in his hideout.

"You cannot hope to defeat me and escape before the Windflower Scripture arrives. But considering we are both enemies of the Theocracy, I offer you this..."

Raising his left hand still holding firm to the jewel of death, he pointed his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to the ground in front of him.

"[Gate]"

A black obsidian oval appears in front of where Khajiit laid dead.

"This portal will transport you outside of E-Rantel where the Windflower Scripture cannot reach you. To use it, all you need to do is tell me where Nfirea is and promise me we'll meet again."

"How in the hell did you know I would be here and that Windflower was chasing me?"

"A little bird of mine in the Sunlight Scripture told me all about you. Knowing your enemy is important after all. You know that as well as I do."

Clementine placed her hands on her hips and eyed him warily.

"Huh. Just like that you would let me go? Weren't those men in town friends of yours?

"Heh. Killing those adventurers and kidnapping the boy benefited me in ways you wouldn't understand. Considering that, I'm willing to return the favor."

Clementine stared at him in silence with a disturbed look on her face. She was used to and enjoyed tormenting people yet Tri'ade was furthest from that at this point. He was actually smug and happy about the whole thing. That frustrated her.

Looking again over to the skeletal dragons and then to the Jewel of Death, Clementine wondered if she could pull off a reversal like Tri'ade did by trying to grab it. But she didn't know her opponent's capabilities and they had shown themselves far more capable than their copper plates would suggest. It was also true that even if she could win against them, it would take time, of which she did not have.

She trusted Tri'ade and wherever this supposed portal led to even less though. While she was no mage, she had learned a bit of magic and she never heard of a teleportation spell like [Gate]. Tri'ade's attitude towards all this also put her on edge. She killed his friends and he liked that?

He also stated he has friends in the Windflower Scripture while at the same time was enemies with the Theocracy. Would that make him a traitor like herself? But why then hadn't she heard of him? She was a member of the Black Scripture and she knew of all the Theocracy's little secrets.

"Tell me where Nfirea is. Time is wasting away. Just like your chances of escape." Tri'ade restated, growing impatient at Clementine's hesitancy.

Clementine smiled while a plan formed in her head. If Tri'ade wanted the boy he'll get him.

"Oh, what's the rush? You can teleport little ole me out of here anytime. The least I could do is show you where the boy is. Come inside."

She waved Tri'ade to come on with her hand beckoning him inside the chapel.

The Gate which he made dissipated into thin air and Tri'ade turned to Narberal, handing the Jewel of Death over to her. As he did so, he heard Narberal try to speak to him.

"Wait for me, your majesty! Take me wi-..."

"I'll be back. Keep guard out here."

"Are you sure, my lord?" She looked over at Clementine with her wicked grin on her face. "I don't trust her."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course!"

"Then that should be enough." Tri'ade patted the hair on her head and Narberal nodded to him.

"Ugh, are you done?"

Clementine had a disgusted look on her face looking at Narberal and Tri'ade's interaction. Tri'ade then sheathed his great-sword and walked over to Clementine.

"Yes."

He looked at her as they walked into the chapel together. She moved to him grabbing his arm holding it close to her like a couple would on a walk together pressing her breasts on his arm. Tri'ade got a little hot under the collar from this but he maintained his composure figuring that was Clementine's goal.

Being this close to her, he finally got a good look at what lay beneath her cloak and it surprised him. It was a bikini chain-mail armor and attached over it were numerous adventurer plates hung like scales across it and underneath that she wore what reminded him of black garter belt lingerie.

Another piece of highly impractical armor. Or is my thinking off due to earth biases? After all, there is magic and super-human strength individuals in this world. Does such skimpy armor actually make sense considering the factors of this world?

The only things that resembled practical armor were her gauntlets and a shin guard for her left leg. Her weapons appeared to balance on the back of her ass. A few stilettos in sheaths and a morning star hanging from her hip. The morning star appeared to have fresh blood on it.

"Like what you see?"

"You certainly like displaying your assets. "

"Oh, you tease! But yes, I do like my trophies." With her free arm, she motioned to a few silver adventurer plates attached to the chain-mail on her breasts.

"These are from your friends," Clementine said with a wide grin on her face.

"Really? I need them."

Reaching out with his right hand, he grabbed one of the silver plates Clementine showed him.

"What are you doing?"

She tried letting go of his left arm and moving away but his left hand grabbed her waist and pulled her back in.

"Y-You're strong!"

Leaning his back a bit to take a closer look at the silver adventurer plate he saw where the string was tied around the chain-mail ring and he took two of his fingers to break the string letting one of the adventurer plates free.

"Ah!"

"That's one. Where are the other three?" Tri'ade tried asking Clementine because he couldn't read the Kingdom script on the adventurer plates but she did not give him the answer he wanted.

"Let go of me!"

"[Comprehend Languages]"

Without an answer from Clementine, he decided to find the silver plates on his own and began tracing his fingers to read what was on the silver plates on her upper armor himself. This elicited another cry from Clementine.

"Pervert."

Finding another one of the Swords of Darkness's adventure plates he broke it off of her armor. While Tri'ade was focused on getting the plates Clementine reached for one of her stilettos but as she handled the grip she let go of it. Tri'ade then got the last of the silver adventure plates he was looking for.

Clementine was staring daggers at him, her annoyance at being toyed with clear but restrained for someone with her personality. Tri'ade loosened his grip on Clementine and she stood next to him within the Chapel near the altar located within the room they were in.

"Always so rough with women?"

"I thought you liked it rough. You certainly can dish it out."

"Humph! Why did you need to take my trophies?"

Tri'ade dangled the four silver plates he took from her in front of her face.

"My friends, as you like to call them, are alive."

"You're joking."

Clementine knew from her days as part of the Theocracy's Black Scripture [Raise Dead] could restore life to the dead but it came with a number of drawbacks including being unusable on corpses with advanced stages of decay or mutilation.

Spells which animated the dead often accelerated this decaying process so even if one killed the undead it should've been difficult, if not impossible, to resurrect them and the girl she tortured she left her body mutilated. It should have been impossible to resurrect them.

"I'm not. I restored them to life. I have power your friend only dreamed of."

She was stunned at Tri'ade's confident claim. If he was that powerful, why in hell had she never heard of him? The Theocracy would have known of him, especially if he was their enemy like he claimed. Tri'ade could be lying to her for all she knew, so she remained skeptical.

"Right..."

"But we can talk of that later. You said you would lead me to Nfirea. I don't see him."

"Don't be mad. After all you're the one who distracted me with your fondling."

Clementine walked over to the wooden altar of the Chapel they were in. It was a modest altar adorned with faces and iconography that Tri'ade was not familiar with, depicting four of the six great gods that were worshiped in the Kingdom.

"Khajiit's hole in the ground is behind here. You're a big strong man. Can you move this thing?"

Deciding to humor Clementine he walked towards the altar's side near where she was standing. Tri'ade placed his hands upon the altar and he picked the entire thing up to move it as if it was as light as a feather.

Behind him, Clementine smiled a wicked grin as she drew her stilettos and backstabbed Tri'ade. She drove her stiletto blades right in the back of Tri'ade's cowl aiming for his spine between his shoulder blades.

"I'm not done yet!"

Once the blades sunk into her target and she saw that Tri'ade was still standing she twisted them unleashing the stored magic inside. Fire and sparks of lighting surrounded Tri'ade as he dropped the altar that landed with a loud thud on the ground.

No screams of pain came from Tri'ade though, much to Clementine's shocked frustration, only silence. She withdrew her stiletto's and jumped backward as Tri'ade turned to face her.

"You stung me but I suppose it's just your nature." Referring to the old stories of the frog who helped a scorpion cross a river only to be stung as thanks, Tri'ade shrugged off Clementine's unsurprising betrayal. He had expected something like that when he agreed to go into the Chapel with her.

But it didn't matter to Tri'ade. He knew from his fights with the Sunlight Scripture and the monsters of Tob forest that he was immune to anything Clementine could strike him with. So he let her do as she wished if it meant showing him exactly where Nifrea was.

"Why aren't you dead?! You should have taken damage after my attack hit home."

"You mistake me for your own weak flesh."

"What?!"

"Hehe! Well, think about it. Why have you not heard of me? It's simple. I came to this world only recently."

Clementine couldn't believe what Tri'ade was claiming, she didn't want to believe it. That would make him some sort of outsider like a demon. Even then, her attack should have done some damage at least! The only beings that she could imagine shrugging off an attack like that would be the monster of the Black Scripture or the Demon Gods of old.

It sounded impossible to her but the more she thought about it the more it stuck in her mind that it could be possible. How else could someone capable of sixth tier magic and wearing such flashy armor be unknown to her and Khajiit? They would have had to travel from far away but even then, news of their passage would likely have reached the Kingdom before they arrived.

This was bad for her since she didn't have her old equipment. She had to leave that behind when she left the Black Scripture and his companion was still outside with those skeletal dragons. Clementine had gambled on killing Tri'ade quickly before dealing with her.

The former Black Scripture's mind was racing on how to get out of this mess. She settled on ignoring the possibility that Tri'ade was being honest and that he had somehow negated her back-stab with some sort of defense skill. There was nothing she could do if Tri'ade spoke the truth so she settled on believing the scenario of where she could win.

Tri'ade watched Clementine as she tried to gather her resolve and sighed. He didn't want to kill her. She was too valuable as a source of information. Originally he wanted to trick her into walking through the Gate he provided to her which led directly into a cell in Nazarick. But she failed to take the bait. Not knowing her exact strength, he might even kill her by mistake if they fought here.

There was one good way to test that though. The Arch-Devil ability, Command Mantra, could only affect characters up to level forty. Granted it wouldn't work if the target had immunity to mental effects but Tri'ade doubted she had any such protection. Equipment which had such enchantments were usually done on amulets or headgear. Clementine had none that he could see.

If she was over level forty that would be a good indication on how strong she was and if she wasn't, he wouldn't need to fight her.

Tri'ade activated his Command Mantra ability. "Drop your weapons," he said in a loud and powerful voice to emphasize the command.

Clementine's fingers twitched in resistance but complied with the order. Her stilettos dropped to the ground.

"What is going on?!"

"Do not resist. Get on your knees."

She dropped to her knees this time with no visible signs of resistance to the order. Clementine's own body was betraying her, obeying Tri'ade's command rather than her own.

Seeing this, Tri'ade walked over to her as a look of abject fear spread across Clementine's face. There was no wide smile as there had been when they had first met and her eyes went wide staring at him approaching her. Clementine's position to Tri'ade felt right and he laughed at the woman who thought to harm him sending a shudder down her spine in the process.

"You are weak and the weak obey the strong. Your body knows this at least. I wonder how long it will take your mind to catch up?"

"You bastard! Let me go!"

"I was going to remember? Then you had to go back-stab me. No... you proved you can't be trusted."

Tri'ade began to think about what to do with Clementine now that he had her under his thumb like this. Command Mantra, while useful could only affect creatures within the range of his voice. To maintain control over her like this would require his constant presence around her. That would be impossible given her notoriety.

She was a former Black Scripture member, so her talents would go to waste being imprisoned in Nazarick. After gaining every bit of useful information from her, she would then become useless to him and would need to be disposed of. Given her history of betraying people and tormenting others, Tri'ade doubted he could ever trust her to willingly serve him.

The only option was to give her no choice in the matter. There was one spell he had that could do that. [Enslave], a tenth tier enchantment spell. It was an overall superior version of the fifth tier [Dominate Mind] spell.

[Enslave] came with a permanent duration and given it was tier ten it couldn't be dispelled by anything other than a tenth level anti-magic spell. The target also formed a mental link to the caster similar to a summoned creature, allowing the caster to know exactly where the target was and their status.

Most people in YGGDRASIL used it to collect expendable NPCs to throw into dungeons to trigger various traps ahead of a party or as a means to go beyond the normal NPC cap. Granted it became chaotic when high-level characters managed to dispel the spell so enslaved NPCs were not that reliable.

It came with some notable downsides of course. The first being if the target of [Enslave] acquires mind immunity magic they can no longer be commanded by the caster. That itself wouldn't dispel the spell entirely and the caster would still know where the target is. If the target of the [Enslave] spell lost the protection of mind immunity magic and didn't dispel the enslave magic upon them they would once again come under the control of the caster.

Second was the cost of the spell. On top of the mana cost of a tenth level spell, it also required experience based on the level of the creature enslaved. Given Clementine was below level forty this cost shouldn't be too substantial to Tri'ade but in this New World, he probably wouldn't regain the lost exp for a long time.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"You're going to become mine."

Having learned from his experiences with the Sunlight Scripture, he began by dispelling any contingency spells Clementine might have on her.

"[Greater Dispel Magic]"

A light temporarily engulfed Clementine before dissipating. Now he could be sure that his attempts at using mind control magic on her wouldn't backfire like it did with Nigun.

"[Enslave]"

Red eyes glowed beneath Tri'ade's golden mask and as he stared into Clementine's face he found her eyes beginning to share the same crimson glow to them. Tri'ade started to feel the intense panic of Clementine as the mental link between them formed. As she was being stripped of free will, fear and bitter rage consumed Clementine as she struggled vainly against the power of Tri'ade's spell.

Clementine had left the Theocracy to be free of everyone who tried to control her, to use her. Her parents who never loved her and cared only for her older brother. The cardinals who sent her friends to die and caused her to suffer. All she ever wanted in life was to be in control. She thought she had it when she became strong enough to kill her bastard of an instructor but that only led to having the cardinal take his place.

She wanted to live how she wanted, to do what she wanted. She loved seeing the suffering in her victims as she crippled them and killed them. It was those times she finally felt like she had control over things. But now? Like before, escaping one cage, she was being put into another.

Clementine felt dark despair swallowing her mind as she gave into the Enslavement spell and tears ran down her face. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing did. The only thing that mattered now was obeying her new master, the man, the creature called Tri'ade Nazarick.

Tri'ade for his part felt the mental connection he had with Clementine. It felt similar to the angels he summoned and the undead he now controlled, but it was more than that. Perhaps it was because those summons felt in a way like lifeless machines performing a function but beneath everything else, Clementine still felt like a person.

 _"I hope I didn't destroy her mind in the process. She feels a little dead inside. Perhaps I should have interrogated her first but too late for that now. I should test my control over her."_

Using his mental link with her he commanded her to do various things like he would a summoned creature. She stood up when he wished it, did a few jumping jacks and turned around to slap her ass in front of him.

He had fun with his last command and he wanted to have some more. There was no one else in the chapel. Narberal and the shadow demons that accompanied him were stationed outside. No one was watching him for the first time in a very long time. There was Clementine but she didn't count anymore since she was a mind dominated slave.

Tri'ade had a wicked idea in his mind as he sat down on one of the pew seats of the chapel and ordered Clementine to kneel down in front of him as he unfastened the lower portion of his armor to let his manhood free of it. With no one to see him, none could judge him for the order he gave next to Clementine. She licked her lips and her head began bobbing up and down on his groin. Tri'ade was getting head in a church. It thrilled him.

When he last went to a church it was many years ago before he moved to Japan. The only thing he remembered was the boredom of it. The long, winding sermons about sin and the eternal punishment of sinners, etc. Now here he was, a sinner in a church using the occult to get a blowjob. He laughed as he came in Clementine's mouth and with his hand held her head in place.

He couldn't enjoy himself for long. However, he felt the connection he had with the undead he turned getting severed. The adventurers were finally pushing forward. Tri'ade put back on the bits of his armor that he removed and Clementine wiped her mouth.

Tri'ade needed to hurry and get Nfirea. He doubted anyone that saw Narberal in command of two skeletal dragons would assume she was a good guy.

 _"Now, where is Nfirea?"_

Clementine pointed and he looked towards the altar in the chapel that he was trying to move before Clementine backstabbed him.

"He's behind there."

This surprised Tri'ade. He hadn't given an order, he was thinking to himself.

"Did you hear me ask that?"

She nodded.

 _"Can you hear me now?"_

She nodded again.

 _"I want to fuck Albedo when I get back to Nazarick."_

She didn't nod that time but he had to make sure.

"What did I say to you last?"

"You asked me if I could hear you."

Tri'ade internally sighed. So it was not an uncontrollable telepathic bond. Just anything that sounded or thought like an order to her was transmitted? He would have to sit down later with Clementine to sort out the details.

Tossing the altar aside and crashing it into the wall of the chapel, Tri'ade found the underground entrance to Khajiit's hideout. He was once again led on by Clementine and found Nfirea in the middle of a pentagram circle.

The first thing he noticed about him was that his eyes were gouged out with pockets of blood beneath them and he was wearing this transparent robe that made looking at him difficult. Tri'ade turned to Clementine who was beside him.

"Is this another one of your games? Why is he dressed like that?"

"It's the traditional attire of the Miko Priestess. It's enchanted to sustain those that wear it."

"I assume what's on his head is the Crown of Wisdom?"

"Yes, master."

Tri'ade stepped closer to Nfirea careful not to look down upon him and inspected the crown.

"[Appraisal Magic Item]"

All the information relating to the Crown of Wisdom and its properties came into his mind like he was remembering them from his own memories.

 _"Hmm, so I can't remove it without driving him mad. It's a pity but I'll have to destroy it. After asking for so much from Lizzie I can't face her with her grandson in this state. The Miko robe though would look nice on Albedo."_

"[Greater Break Item]"

He heard a gasp from Clementine as he cast the spell and the crown of wisdom crumbled away. Nfirea began to collapse like a puppet with its strings cut and Tri'ade caught him.

Tri'ade got a bed-sheet out of his inventory and wrapped the unconscious Nfirea up in it. With him wrapped up, he felt comfortable enough to lift up and carry him on his shoulder. Part of him wanted Clementine to do it but Nfirea would have to be brought back to his grandmother.

"It's time we parted ways. I'll meet you later when I finish my business here."

"[Gate]"

Once again Tri'ade had used his ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to open a gateway to an empty Nazarick Prison cell.

"This will take you to your cell. It will be temporary until more permanent accommodations can be made. Go there now."

Clementine bowed again and said devoid of her previously teasing personality, "Yes, Master." With that, she calmly went through the Gate he made for her. With Clementine away from E-Rantel it was time for him to head out too.

Tri'ade wondered what sort of reception he would get from the adventurer's guild once they heard the new adventurer team Darkness took out the Necromancer responsible for this whole mess. Would that qualify for an Orichalcum or Adamantite plate promotion?

* * *

 **Afterword**

Happy memorial day for those of you reading in the US. I worked long into the night this weekend to get it finished as a happy surprise to you all. I had about a third of this chapter completed already when I uploaded the previous chapter. Which is why it took so long for that chapter to get uploaded since I had to divide what I had up.

Clementine being made to serve Nazarick in some manner (either as a prisoner or slave) was a done deal once I determined the Swords would continue to live in the story. Without them dying permanently, there is little motive for revenge for Tri'ade to fight with Clementine other than her being in his way and we've established before that Tri'ade is less...investigative than Ainz is.

I debated whether or not to include any sexual scenes with Clementine since, well, it is a rape scene in all technicality with the whole mind control. But I felt it was a good scene to have showing how Tri'ade's power is corrupting him to abuse it and the possible emotional issues or lack thereof using a person for sex.

To Tri'ade, Narberal and the other NPC's are not slaves but rather creations of his friends so there would naturally be some hesitation to... order them towards intimate service. Albedo being an exception due to how eager she is for it. Same for Shalltear to an extent though there are other things in consideration for her.

Clementine is a nice contrast to this however. He has no emotional hang ups with her. In fact, given her rotten personality and attempts to kill his new friends, one would imagine he would not feel any sympathy towards her at all. So the abuse of power comes more easily. Ironically enough, she is less human to Tri'ade than the monstrous NPC's of Nazarick.

We'll see her again in the next chapter which I'll name Homecoming. It'll deal with the aftermath of the undead incident and many characters returning to their respective homes. Tri'ade to Nazarick, Arthur to the Theocracy and some other characters possibly.

Last edited: June 30th, 2018-some minor spelling mistakes and grammar changed.

Edited October 20th, 2018 Format change/Spelling mistakes corrected.

Proofread January 6th, 2019 by PervySageChuck


	13. Volume 3: Chapter 1: Homecoming

_**Volume 3: Darkness, Chapter 1: Homecoming**_

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-City of E-Rantel**_

The sun rose on E-Rantel and it marked the defender's victory over the darkness that threatened to consume it. While a few straggling undead were left unaccounted for, the bulk of the horde had been destroyed. Hundreds of civilians were killed when they broke through to the residential district and there were still people showing up dead.

When Tri'ade emerged as the one who slew the necromancers responsible for the night's tragic events he was once more lauded as a hero.

The adventurer's guild immediately promoted him to Mythril rank alongside the rest of his newly founded team. With the inclusion of the members of the former adventurer team Swords of Darkness, the new team was simply named Darkness and was led by Tri'ade.

Many in the guild hall looked to the former silver ranked adventurers with curiosity and jealous envy. They knew their colleague's skills and how mismatched they were compared to the heroic figure among them.

Tri'ade didn't care though. Peter and his friends had something more important than skill. Debt. Debt to him and the gratitude they afforded to their savior. It was that fact that allowed him to trust them more than the other adventurers and would wish them to travel alongside him.

When Tri'ade returned Nfirea wrapped up to Lizzy and healed his wounds they didn't question it. When Tri'ade ordered Lizzie and Nfirea to go to Carne Village in order to make potions and research God's Blood potions, Peter and the rest didn't question Tri'ade's motives.

They had grown faith in their new leader and believed that what he was doing was for the best for everyone. How could they not after seeing the village Tri'ade saved and his generosity to both the villagers and themselves.

Certainly, Lizzie and the Swords of Darkness pledging a lifetime of service seemed at first exploitative, but Lizzie probably would have accepted the offer to go to Carne Village regardless. It was a dream come true after all for them to gain access to numerous legendary potions and someone as informed about them as Tri'ade seemed to be.

The only thing Tri'ade had asked so far of Peter and his friends were to merge their group with his own permanently. Which to their eyes, seemed to benefit themselves more than Tri'ade himself because they were immediately promoted to Mythril rank due to their new association with him.

In fact, the rank of Mythril seemed far too low for someone of Tri'ade's skill in their eyes. Even Narberal agreed with them on that. Adamantite was the only rank Tri'ade deserved from what they saw. Some of them thought it might have been the fact they had teamed up with him that led to Tri'ade only getting Mythril rank.

When they apologized to him about it he simply said, "Don't worry about it. The guild will come around eventually."

This only solidified the view they had of him as a great and generous hero. Of course, Tri'ade didn't notice this growing fawning adoration having gotten used to them being in general in awe of him.

So when Tri'ade told them he had to take care of some personal business before the next quest, they thought nothing of it. They just didn't expect him to be gone for so long.

 _ **Great Tomb of Nazarick-9th Floor**_

Tri'ade stepped out of a Gate and appeared in his study in Nazarick with the gate vanishing behind him shortly afterward. Before he could take a look around, he felt someone jump behind him and wrap their arms around his torso. Two large breasts pressed warmly against his back.

"Albedo."

She let go of Tri'ade so she could move to face him.

"I missed you, my love."

"I know."

He leaned in and gave her a deep kiss on her soft lips. Albedo's face flushed red with a wide grin on her face as he pulled away.

"Hmm."

"I need you to take me. Right here and now! It's been so long. Please do whatever you want to me, my love!"

A smile came to Tri'ade's lips this time. It was true that counting for all the time he had spent in E-Rantel, it had been around a month since he had been back in Nazarick. All that time away, he had been constantly watched by either the shadow demons or the humans. The only time he wasn't, he was interrupted by the adventurers in pursuit of Khajiit's necromancer cabal.

He had thought of asking Narberal to service him on the way back to E-Rantel but had second thoughts. Tri'ade had introduced her as his apprentice and daughter of a friend so if the Swords found out, they might have gotten suspicious about their real relationship.

There was also her true form to consider. Doppelgangers true forms were quite slender with long moth-like appendages and three holes for a face. Tri'ade feared what it would do to her self-esteem if he said that he preferred her human form over what she truly looked like. He didn't want to hurt her feelings.

With Albedo, it was so much simpler. She was the embodiment of his lustful desires. Curvy and luscious in all the right places. More importantly, she wanted him as much as he did her. He still worried about her bearing his child and what that might mean later on but... he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Tri'ade whispered in Albedo's ear, "Bend over on the desk and get wet for me. I'm not in the mood for foreplay."

She rushed over to the desk nearly bumping into it in excitement. Albedo bent down to remove her panties and lifted her ass high presenting it to Tri'ade as he came up behind her.

"I'm always ready to receive your love."

Looking down on her, he realized that she was right. Albedo's juices were already dripping down on the carpet and the panties were soaked. She must have gotten wet from Tri'ade's kiss and seeing him.

"I see."

Albedo's eagerness was always so infectious. Tri'ade felt uncomfortable in his armor as he got excited looking at her. So he used his quick-equip gem in his belt to switch to his set of casual wear, the red embroidered robes that he had lent to Ninya before.

He lifted the robes up out of the way and penetrated Albedo's wet pussy. Slowly at first, but he then pushed it to the hilt coming right at the entrance to her womb.

The silken folds of her pussy began to squeeze the length of his rock hard member trying to milk it. A sign Albedo was cumming. She gripped the table's edge hard as she did.

"YES! Yes! Shove it in deep in my pussy! Fuck me!"

Tri'ade began to seriously move now bucking his hips against Albedo's plush bottom. Never taking his tip out of her and then plowing all the way to the hilt again. Knocking against the entrance of her womb over and over again. Each time eliciting a moan or cry of ecstasy from Albedo as he ravaged her pussy.

Her body shook from the continuous aftershocks of her cumming again and again. He knew because each time her warm snatch followed suit trying to milk him. Albedo's considerable strength left her and Tri'ade had to lift her ass up and plop her right on the surface of the table her breasts pressing against it. He feared that it would break under the strain of him drilling her into it but thankfully due to its quality construction it did not.

"Ahh! YES!"

The build-up in his groin quickly apex-ed in his own climax, cream-pieing Albedo with her pussy milking him for every last drop that came out of him. Still speared upon his shaft, Albedo and Tri'ade took a moment to catch their breath. He reveled in the afterglow. He then felt Albedo press her rear against him ready for another go. His dick stiffened, responding to her grinding her hips against his.

They were just getting back into it when there came a knock on the door and Shalltear walked into the room. She gazed upon Tri'ade joined at the hips with Albedo with a look of surprise and... excitement?

"Shalltear?!"

"Lord Tri'ade! You've returned, my beloved master!"

"Have your eyes rotted away?! Can't you see you are bothering Lord Tri'ade? Go bother someone- ahh!"

He didn't like it when Albedo got angry. She always got like this with Shalltear. So Tri'ade thrust into her once more to stop her from mouthing off. Grabbing her hips he continued on in slow long thrusts to keep her attention on him and not on Shalltear. Albedo responded with soft moans.

"Why are you here, Shalltear?"

Shalltear looked at Albedo under him with jealous envy. Snapping out of it when her master questioned her.

"Right. I came here to give Albedo my report on the first, second and third floors."

"For what purpose?"

The petite vampire smiled at this.

"She didn't tell you? She's been having us catalog all the resources and assets on our floors for her audit."

 _An audit? Right Albedo did say something about that a while ago. I guess they take a long time._

Still laboring underneath Tri'ade Albedo said to Shalltear, "Ah! you were supposed to have brought this to meee! Last week."

"There was a problem with the Black Capsule alright?! I don't want to think about it."

"Hmm."

While nice, the slow motion of his thrusts into Albedo was beginning to get to Tri'ade. He wanted to seriously pound her again so he picked up the pace. Which caught Shalltear's attention as she stared at him with lust.

"Ahh! Yes!"

"Master! Can I do anything for you?"

 _Shit! This isn't the time to explain to her. But I can't just send her away..._

"Just sit back and watch, Shalltear."

She sat down upon one of the two seats in front of his office desk which Albedo was on top of. Shalltear's hand migrated down to her pussy as Tri'ade continued to fuck Albedo.

He didn't notice as his attention was now solely focused on pounding his shaft into Albedo's warm and slick vagina. His semen lubing her passage allowing him to go even faster to build up to another climax. Shalltear with her eager hands came about the same time Tri'ade did.

This time he pulled out of Albedo and a large stream of semen began dripping out of her pussy onto the floor. _Thankfully the maids would be the ones who would clean that mess up,_ thought Tri'ade.

Though his groin was now a sticky mess. He looked around for anything to clean it with. Albedo was still recovering so she didn't notice as Shalltear moved towards her master's crotch.

"Let me help you with that, master."

"What?"

Shalltear's tongue parted through her lips licking the fluids off around Tri'ade's groin. When she licked his balls clean she moved onto his shaft. The lips caressing him made his slack member harden once again.

 _Shit! Her tongue! Why did Peroroncino have to make her a perverted Loli? If he only made her look a few years older..._

The head of the goth Loli reached the tip of his manhood. Being fully erect it was now larger than her head and Shalltear had to stand up to get to the tip. Her lips came down upon it and Tri'ade was afraid of feeling the tips of her fangs as he entered her mouth.

She couldn't fit his penis fully in her mouth being the size it was so Shalltear began pushing it down her throat. Being undead of course meant that she didn't need to breathe and had no gag reflex. Tri'ade saw how he engorged Shalltear's throat and to his amazement slowly being completely engulfed by the Loli vampire.

Shalltear had a look of pure joy on her face and it was quickly becoming evident by the puddle of juices dripping to the ground she was thoroughly enjoying every inch of what was in her.

 _This is all Peroroncino's fault! If he was going to make a Loli this perverted, he should've stayed with her!_

Tri'ade was in too deep now so he decided to just fuck it. Literally, in this case. Grabbing Shalltear by the head he began face fucking her. Slowly at first but after making sure she was alright with it he went faster and faster until he cummed directly into her stomach.

Albedo pouted at his side at first wanting some attention so he gave it to her by kissing her and she pressed up against his side as he finished with Shalltear. When he pulled out of her mouth she passed out with a wide smile on her face.

He sat down at his chair resting his tiring hips and sighed. Albedo sat on his lap wanting to continue but if he indulged her they would be at it all day.

"Enough. We need to get cleaned up. There's business to attend to."

"Of course. You want to talk to that woman you captured."

Putting an arm around Albedo, he smiled and said, "No, something more interesting."

* * *

 _ **The Capital of the Slane Theocracy**_

Arthur Oreio Partouche was at last back in the capital after so long. It was hardly the happy reunion however since he was the sole survivor of the Sunlight Scripture which was missing in action. After some awkward and tense exchanges at first, he was led to the Cathedral of the Earth God.

The young vice-captain, or perhaps it should be said, former vice-captain of the Sunlight Scripture, was to meet directly with Raymond Zarg Lauransan the Cardinal of Earth. This cardinal was the overall commander of the six scriptures and was in charge of their operations.

His meeting was for his debriefing. Normally a lower ranked aide of the Cardinal, perhaps the Bishop of the Cathedral, would be conducting this but these were not normal circumstances. An entire Scripture being wiped out demanded the Cardinal's personal attention.

He was waiting outside the Cardinal's office. Frankly, his nerves were killing him. Arthur had to explain the unmitigated disaster that befell his unit and why he alone came back. He wasn't the most experienced member of the Scripture. In fact, he was one of the least experienced members. Arthur might have done well enough in training to merit his position but most suspected his uncle's involvement in his being nominated as vice-captain.

Now, it was yet another "lucky" break for him by virtue of him surviving when everyone else died. He could already hear in his mind the gossip the people would be stirring about that. Suspicions of cowardice, treason, or perhaps even getting preferential treatment again due to his family.

 _Not that one of them wasn't true,_ he thought. Arthur did agree to become Tri'ade's eyes in the Theocracy to investigate who ordered his Scripture to massacre innocent humans. Not that he knew how exactly he would pull that off, but the Shadows Tri'ade gave him would probably help.

But that was neither here nor there. He nearly jumped out of his seat when he finally got called into the Cardinal's office. Taking a deep breath to calm down, he entered it. The office itself was spartan and utilitarian, meant more as a work-space for the Cardinal than anything else.

Raymond Zarg Lauransan was a man in his forties who had previously served in the Black Scripture as its 3rd seat for nearly fifteen years. He had the face of a hardened veteran with black hair with streaks of grey within it. A neatly trimmed mustache nestled itself between his nose and upper lip. He was still sitting down in his seat at his desk looking over papers of reports that were stacked upon it. Not even looking up from them he said, "Sit down. Vice Captain."

"Yes, sir." Arthur answered and quickly sat opposite to the Cardinal of Earth in one of the two chairs set out in front of his desk. Only then did Raymond lay down the papers he was reading to look directly into Arthur's eyes.

"So tell me, Arthur, why are you the only one returning? I got the message from Windflower but they didn't say much."

Having thought long on Tri'ade's words on the ride over to the capital he understood the wisdom of his final words to him. To tell the truth. A man like Raymond could spot a lie easily and there were numerous ways to extract information using magic the Theocracy could use. However, they wouldn't use that if they thought he was being cooperative and on their side.

But they didn't need to know the entire truth. Arthur knew from the way he was transported out of his cell that even Tri'ade was doing that to him. That he didn't want to let him know the layout of his home and give it to the Cardinal. He wondered what else Tri'ade was hiding from him.

That didn't matter though. He sensed that Tri'ade had a keen idea of justice and actually had the strength to follow it. Unlike Arthur who knew what they were doing in the Kingdom was wrong but did nothing other than whine about it to his superior. The man was also right when he said if the Pontifex Maximus was lying about the will of the gods, then he was a blasphemer of the highest order. A wicked priest leading the faithful astray from the will of the gods. Something had to be done about that.

So he told the Cardinal of Earth the truth, for the most part, omitting the presence of that monster in the torture room and the meal he had with Tri'ade where he agreed to help him. At the end of him telling the story and answering Raymond's questions he brought out two items.

One was the Sealing Crystal Nigun had tried and failed to use against Tri'ade and the other was an envelope containing Tri'ade's message to the Cardinals. Raymond's eyes widened as he saw the depleted sealing crystal before him.

"Tri'ade Nazarick told me to give these to you and the other Cardinals. Once he had learned that it was a sacred treasure he said it was best to return it."

"Hmm, how considerate of him. So his mercy to you, in particular, was also a message."

The Cardinal of Earth picked up the sealing crystal for closer inspection.

"Did Nigun tell you what this crystal contained?"

"No, sir. I didn't even know he had it until he tried to use it."

"This crystal housed the power to summon the highest tier of angels. An angelic being in the past which was capable of slaying even one of the Demon Gods. And you're saying this man effortlessly countered that."

Sighing, Arthur replied, "As effortlessly as he defeated us. He even restored the life of one of ours when his companion killed him without his permission."

"Right... Are you certain that was no illusion? The man was standing up when his life was restored."

"If it was, sir, it was a good one and one they planned out ahead of time. Though I don't know how that would benefit them."

Raymond's brow furrowed. He didn't like what he was hearing from the Vice-Captain. If it were to be believed, this man who called himself Tri'ade Nazarick would have to be a god-kin. This was possibly the worst news he could have received from the young vice-captain.

A Godkin with delusions of grandeur no less with how he called himself the Lord of Life and Death. Titles only the Gods of Life and Death could rightfully claim separately. That was a truly dangerous combination.

But perhaps they could use that arrogance to their advantage as humanity has always done with the stronger races that neighbored them. The Black Scripture has handled similar threats in the past and he was confident that if necessary, they could deal with this new one.

However, it was foolish to rush into things. If they did not gather more information on this Tri'ade Nazarick and his companions, it would probably lead to unnecessary deaths. Finding the location of their base of operations where they brought the Sunlight Scripture will be important.

There was only one remaining question that demanded an answer.

"Why did this Tri'ade choose to spare you?" he asked Arthur bluntly.

"I-I s-sir. I had... misgivings about the mission."

"Misgivings?"

Arthur shook as he recalled the village on fire and meeting with Captain Belius.

"As... As Vice-Captain it was my duty to relay important instructions to our soldiers in the field."

He turned away his head and looked down at the said the remainder.

"I-I saw what they did at each village. The rot of the dead, the screams of the dying, the rape."

Arthur's brow was sweating and he used his arm to wipe it away. Taking a deep breath he regained his composure raising his head to look at Raymond directly in the eyes.

"I still see them when I sleep, sir."

"So he took pity on you."

"I believe so, sir." Arthur wanted to dispute that with Raymond but didn't. He was spared to redeem himself in the eyes of the gods, not as an act of pity.

"That mission was a necessary evil. With men like Gazef Stronoff, the Kingdom will continue to decay. It will threaten to bring the rest of humanity down along with it."

Raymond sighed in disappointment.

"With Tri'ade's interference, all that suffering and evil was done in vain. This is a disaster but one we will recover from with time."

The Cardinal's words reassured Arthur somewhat. Him recognizing the evil of it unlike his former captain gave some hope for the rest of the theocracy leadership.

"For now Arthur consider yourself relieved of duty. Take this time to recover from your ordeal. I'm sure your family would love to see you. "

"Thank you, sir."

"You are dismissed. I have condolence letters to write."

"What about his letter, sir?" Arthur pointed to the envelope now beneath the sealing crystal.

"It has to be carefully inspected before we go opening it. If this Tri'ade is a powerful magic caster as you say he is, he might have cast a spell upon it."

Arthur nodded and walked out of the Cardinal's office. Trying to think of what he was going to say to his family when he got back home.

Other eyes were upon the Cardinal's office, however. Unbeknownst to them, their meeting was not a private one.

A projected screen of light showed the image of the Cardinal hard at work writing letters. Looking upon it in a darkly lit room were three people. A man in red robes and two raven-haired women with long flowing hair. One dressed in white the other in black.

It was Tri'ade and Albedo, of course, but the second raven-haired woman was Nigredo. This was Albedo's sister who resided on the 5th floor.

One would think that given Albedo's beauty, that her sister would share it and in a sense, that was true. While she looked beautiful from a distance, it was when one peered beneath the long black hair covering her face, one saw something truly horrific.

Her face was... not there. That is to say she had no skin upon her face and exposed muscle was visible. This grotesque absence was made ever the more appalling by her beautiful eyes and teeth and the stark contrast between them.

Whoever entered her residence without a prepared offering of a wooden baby would cause her to enact a scene specifically created by her maker. Acting like an insane lunatic and attacking whoever is there while screaming for her precious baby. Tabula's love for the horror genre was made manifest in Nigredo.

When Tabula first showed her to his guildmates, they were absolutely terrified of his creation and attacked her without mercy. Frankly, Tri'ade was even more scared now of Nigredo than ever before. He had come to expect the female NPC's of Nazarick to be attracted to him and dreaded to think of her trying to kiss him with her lipless face. These fears appeared to be a bit unfounded as Nigredo, unlike her sister, acted rather reserved around him after ending her pre-scripted scene.

He had traveled to meet with her despite his fears to get her assistance. Albedo's sister was very skilled in divination magic and working together with her, he was confident that they could safely spy upon the Slane Theocracy.

The sealing crystal and the letter he had given to Arthur being the key to this. Tri'ade had cast magic upon them so they could act as scrying foci for divination magic. Wherever they went regardless of the location, they could be tracked. Using them as a reference point, they could move to learn about others in the Slane Theocracy.

With divination magic, especially scrying, the more you already know about your targets the better. With this knowledge, it makes it harder for the target of your divination spells to hide from your gaze, whether intentionally or not.

"Things seem to be going to plan," Tri'ade said while looking at the Cardinal on the crystal monitor being projected by Nigredo.

"That man didn't seem to know much of what happened at Carne Village. " A look of concern was evident on Albedo's face.

That did appear to be strange. Tri'ade thought the ones that tried scrying upon him at Carne were Nigun's superiors. Sure, his countermeasures would have probably killed a careless diviner but they could have revived them. He was missing something in this but didn't know what it was, so he didn't bring it up with Albedo.

"Doesn't matter. We know what he knows now. Using that we can plan around their actions. Considering how easy this was even I could spy upon them. I'm sorry Nigredo for bothering you for such a trivial task."

Bowing her head, Nigredo replied, "Oh no, my Lord! It is a delight to serve you."

"Could this Cardinal have wanted us to see this Nee-san?"

Nigredo shifted about before answering, "Its possible. His room was only protected by low-level anti-divination magic and no wards activated."

"I doubt it. The cardinal's defenses were adequate to guard against any rival of his. The level of magic the natives are capable of are limited."

"Of course. Those humans are quite pathetic."

"Still, remain cautious, Nigredo. Wherever they might bring the crystal will likely have better defenses. I want you to keep an eye on it."

"Certainly, but what of the letter you wrote them?"

"It served its purpose."

"I see. So you sent it to throw off suspicion from the sealing crystal."

 _What? I had only sent it to justify sending Arthur back to the Theocracy._

"Ah! As expected of you, my love! A letter is an obvious threat. No wonder they ignored the sealing crystal."

 _... whatever, just roll with it._

"Right, that was a small part of my plan."

Tri'ade had grown somewhat used to the NPC's finding ways to praise him even when he had done nothing particularly praiseworthy in his mind.

"Anyway, keep tabs on the sealing crystal. I want to know where their vault is. We should also arrange for more infiltrators into the Theocracy. Even if they have to work something as low as being at a brothel or tavern to collect gossip I want-"

"[Forgive the disturbance, Lord Tri'ade]"

A female voice echoed through his mind. It belonged to Narberal, who had stayed in E-Rantel.

"What is it Narberal? Are the humans giving you trouble?"

"[Yes. Someone from the adventurer's guild is looking for you, Lord Tri'ade]"

"Really? I thought we already met up with them about last night. Did they tell you why they wanted to see me?"

"[Regretfully, they did not. The person they sent for yourself was little more than a runner. They said that they would explain at the guild, and hoped that you would hurry over as soon as possible, Lord Tri'ade]"

"Hmm, alright then. I'll be going to the Guild now."

Tri'ade went over to Albedo, lifting her head up to meet him and gave her a goodbye kiss. Her cheeks flushed scarlet red and she had a wide smile at receiving her love's affection.

"When I get back we'll finish up where we left off."

"Yes... my Lord. It'll be my pleasure."

He made a gate and vanished from the room. There was other stuff he wanted to do in Nazarick, like questioning Clementine, but if the Guild urgently wanted to meet with them it must have been important.

Now that only the two sisters were left in the room, the mood in the room lightened. As though waiting for this opportunity, Nigredo turned to Albedo, a curious look in her eyes.

"So you and the lord are a couple now?"

"Oh yes! He made me his first wife. I've been so blessed to receive his endless love!"

"First wife? Who else is the Lord's wife?"

"No one yet. He hasn't chosen another woman. Though that harlot, Shalltear, keeps trying to tempt my beloved."

The two sisters continued to engage in casual conservation. Nigredo rarely left the frozen prison so it was a chance for the two of them to reconnect.

Beginning mostly with the prospects of Albedo bearing Tri'ade's baby and Nigredo's offering herself as a nanny. Though at the end, it became more serious with Nigredo speaking of her wariness of Rubedo, their youngest sister on the 8th floor. An opinion that Albedo did not share, viewing her as an adorable little sister.

* * *

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-City of E-Rantel-Adventurer Guild Headquarters**_

"Come, come, come, Mr. Tri'ade, pull up a chair."

There were three men in the room. One of them was a stout-looking man outfitted for war, while one of them looked similarly imposing despite his lack of arms or armor. He was the one who had risen to beckon Tri'ade over. In addition, there was a fat man seated in the innermost part of the room.

Tri'ade took a seat, under the eyes of everyone else, and then the standing man spoke once more,

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the head of this city's Adventurer's Guild, Pluton Ainzach."

He was a powerful-looking middle-aged man and had an aura of a mighty veteran about him. There was no doubt that he was an excellent warrior.

"This is the Mayor of E-Rantel, Panasolei Gruuze De Rittenmeier-san."

Tri'ade had nodded to the man whom he recognized from their previous meeting, and Pansolei slightly waved back.

"Mr. Tri'ade, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Perhaps it was because his nose was stuffed up, but he made buhiiii noises when he spoke.

"And this is Cofre of Axe of Cyclone."

The man wore an iron metal plate around his neck and wore banded armor much like Peter's. From this, Tri'ade could tell that like the Swords of Darkness, this Axe of Cyclone group must've been a group of iron ranked adventurers.

"Nice meeting all of you."

"I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with us. To summarize, about two nights ago, some adventurers were out on patrol looking for a group of soldiers turned bandits. Six of them were killed by the group. I sent for you because of this incident."

"You sent for me because of bandits?"

The mayor puffed up with a buhiii noise coming out of him.

"These are no ordinary bandits. The Death Spreading Brigade has been terrorizing the roads near E-Rantel for months. There aren't enough guardsmen in E-Rantel to do regular patrols of the roads."

 _Probably also why E-Rantel didn't send men out to the villages being attacked by the Theocracy either,_ Tri'ade mused.

"The mayor hired the Guild to take care of them but it seems we underestimated the group. Cofre here is the last surviving member of Axe of Cyclone. Please explain to Mr. Tri'ade what happened."

Cofre didn't look too well but that was to be expected for a man whose friends had just died.

"I was stationed outside of the cave we thought the bandits were using as a hideout. To secure our flank and to look out for any returning bandits... I heard the screams from inside... When I checked to look inside they were dead. A man with blue hair wielding a katana standing over them didn't see me and I managed to sneak out and return to E-Rantel."

"Do we have any idea who this katana wielding swordsman is?"

Responding to Tri'ade's question, the Mayor answered, "We can't be certain, but this young man's description fits one person I know. Brain Unglaus. He came in second in the last Royal Tournament, only being defeated by Gazef Stronoff."

"Hmm, I see. No ordinary bandits indeed."

 _Someone nearly as strong as Gazef as bandit scum? I doubt he has any useful information or potential as a servant._

"Considering your actions at Carne Village and your skills, we believe your team is best suited in taking over this assignment. Of course, you will be well compensated."

 _This Brain Unglaus character could prove useful in practicing my close combat abilities. I doubt anyone would care if he died._

But before he accepted the job, he had to get a few things straight. Tri'ade toyed with the Mythril plate hanging around his neck.

"Would a Mythril ranked adventurer normally be sent against someone who could rival Gazef Stronoff?"

Guildmaster Ainzach shifted in his chair.

"No, but considering your past exploits..."

"Am I correct then in assuming the abilities of my other party members affected my own rank?

"Many in the guild wanted to assign orichalcum rank to your team after the Skeletal Dragon remains we found. But we felt it prudent to award you Mythril rank considering your team's merger with Sword of Darkness. The ranking system, after all, is meant to ensure people don't recklessly get killed."

 _Ah, so they found the dragons we left... Good thing I had the orb of death de-animate them. I didn't expect them to crumble to the ground as they did. Really wished I had the free time to experiment more with the orb._

The Mayor butting in, smiled at guild master Ainzach and said, "Considering your actions at Carne Village, I would consider you for adamantine rank but of course that isn't my call, buhiii."

"We have conflicting reports of who actually attacked those villages and Mr. Tri'ade was not an adventurer at that time."

"So... If no one in my team dies after completing this mission could we be considered for Orichalcum rank? "

The Guildmaster and the others wordlessly stared at Tri'ade for asking that question. It appeared callous to them considering the heroic reputation Tri'ade had built up in the city after the graveyard incident.

He realized he fumbled in his wording so he tried to make it right. Tri'ade made a show of being embarrassed.

"My apologies, but I'm still getting used to this whole ranking system. I'm not sure how to show the progress of Peter and his friends. I see potential in them and wanted to help them realize it. It's why I had them join Darkness."

Their looks had signs of relief after he said that. Cofre stared on in amazement.

"I can help with that. There are examination tests we conduct to normally promote adventurers up the ranks. We can use those to highlight your team members improvement in the future. It would definitely help ease the concerns some in the Guild had."

 _Then perhaps I can get to adamantine rank soon then. Here's hoping they're not limited by something arbitrary like a level cap. That's one thing I hope is different in this world. It would be awesome if I could level up again one day._

"Good. Well, I accept this assignment then. Darkness will ensure these bandits are brought to justice. Regardless of whether this Brain Ungualus is among them."

Mayor Panasolei clapped his hands in excitement and exclaimed, "Excellent news! Truly you are a godsend, Mr. Tri'ade. You saved Carne Village, the city and now this. I'll be sure to up the reward for all the trouble. It's true what people say about you."

"Heh, what exactly have they been saying?"

"That you are a hero!"

* * *

 **Afterword**

Well, this has been an interesting chapter to write. I had originally intended to somehow tie in Gazef's return to the palace, but as I did research for this chapter it seemed too out of place. There was also another scene dealing with the former Swords of Darkness that I cut out due to story timeline restraints. But I'm saving it for a future chapter.

I got a poll out on my profile for the reader's consideration on how long these chapters should be. But as I've written this chapter, the more convinced I've become that a month is probably the best amount of time to properly write out a story. Regardless if I slice it up and dish it out in smaller chapter updates.

Looking forward to writing the next chapter detailing more about these dastardly bandits lead by Brain Unglaus :). I did hint this out in Chapter 7. Tri'ade only learned of martial art's existence after meeting Peter. This was due to the fact Tri'ade didn't use Gazef as a guinea pig sending him and his men to fight against the Sunlight Scripture.

Which also had the butterfly effect of not having a reason for Shalltear going out on her ill-fated mission to acquire people who had martial art skills. Meaning Brita's team was not killed by Shalltear in a blood rage.

So by virtue of not being dead, Brita's team of only seven iron ranked adventurers would be confronted by eighty bandits in an entrenched position with the trump card that is Brain Unglaus on their side.

Yeah, poor Brita... they never stood a chance.. Life is cruel in the New World. No wonder she tried to save up so she could buy a decent health potion!

I wonder what else the butterflies will impact on the story? We'll I'll try catching them all for you guys later. My damn AC is on the fritz again and writing in eighty degree heat is hard.


	14. V3 Chapter 2: Bandits by any other name

_**Volume 3: Darkness, Chapter 2: Bandits by any other name.**_

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom- City of E-Rantel**_

After Tri'ade left the room only two people stayed in the Guild Master's office. The mayor, Panasolei, and the guild-master Ainzach. Panasolei breathed a sigh of relief.

"That man..."

Ainzach looked to the mayor as he spoke, "You felt it too?"

Both men felt that Tri'ade had an impressive bearing and presence when he spoke to them. No matter what he had said, it had a sense of gravitas to it. Panasolei had felt like this a few times when his majesty spoke but never to the degree than when Tri'ade did.

"What is it the people are calling him?"

"Fire Lord."

From Tri'ade's majestic armor and his presence, they couldn't fault the people from giving him that nickname. Having seen Gazef Stronoff outfitted with the royal relics of the Kingdom, even he could not begin to compare to what Tri'ade wore.

Though other nobility in the Kingdom might take offense to an adventurer being called a Lord. To Panasolei, having met Tri'ade, it seemed to fit him better than most nobles he had met in his life.

"Do you have any idea where he comes from? Before today, the first time I had heard of him was when he signed up with the guild. Someone like him cannot have sprung up from nowhere."

"I was hoping you could tell me that! My guards tell me that he comes from a place called Helheim but no one can tell me where that is."

"I hear that behind that mask of his, he looks to be a wood elf. So perhaps he comes from some far away elven kingdom?"

"Perhaps..."

While the Elven Kingdom south of the Slane Theocracy was the most well known, it was hardly the only one. The Dark Elves were rumored to reside deep in the Tob forest to the north of E-Rantel and were said to have one as well. Given elves typically built their kingdoms in isolated forests, it was difficult to tell whether or not there were others in the world.

"Do you think he comes from the elven kingdom at war with the Slane Theocracy?"

"I have my doubts about that. If he was, why didn't he ask for an audience with his majesty after all he's done?"

It would make sense for the Elven Kingdom if they could send representatives to the Re-Estize Kingdom and others to seek their support against the Slane Theocracy. While they may have all been human nations it didn't stop either the Re-Estize Kingdom nor the Empire from engaging in border disputes. The City of E-Rantel itself was claimed by all three neighboring nations after all.

The Empire still engaged in the lucrative slave trade, dealing in elven slaves with the Theocracy though, so it made sense the Kingdom who recently outlawed slavery would be a more appealing target to send someone.

But if that was the case it would make more sense for this representative to declare themselves as being such and openly advocating their case to the King himself. Not hiding underneath a mask and becoming an adventurer.

"Could it be he just wants to become an orichalcum ranked adventurer?"

I doubt it, Mayor. Adventurers enjoy fame and prestige but command little power. If you're lucky, you might even be offered a government post with good terms… although, that's about it. Power can be much more easily gained through other means."

"If wealth was his aim, he could probably live the rest of his life in luxury if he sold the magical items in his possession. I talked to Lizzie Bareare before she left the city and apparently he has many rare and valuable potions."

"Then there is him taking the Swords of Darkness under his wing. If he truly wanted to quickly advance through the ranks, he wouldn't have done that."

Both men racked their brains trying to understand the motivations of this mysterious hero that had come into their lives. None of them found a particularly satisfying answer.

"Well, everything he has done so far has shown himself to be a hero. I suppose the only thing we can do now is hope that continues to be the case."

"Aye. I suppose it was a struck of luck for us that he joined the Adventurers Guild."

"I might see that being the case for you at the Guild but how is that the case for his majesty?"

"It shows he is disinterested in engaging in politics. The guild and its members must be neutral in such affairs, remember? While I'm certain his majesty would like to make Tri'ade a loyal retainer like Gazef Stronoff, could he offer him more than the Emperor?"

The mayor was silent on this but he knew the truth. While his majesty was a nobleman and a wealthy one, he certainly did not compare to the wealth of the Imperial throne. After all, the Bloody Emperor had confiscated much wealth from many disloyal or outspoken nobles of his country.

Additionally, King Ramposa III was also old and had no clear heir apparent. The potential for a succession war after his death was not non-existent at this point with the noble faction and the royal faction both sponsoring different heirs.

Looking at it from an outsider's perspective it would be a hard sell to anyone with other options. Even Gazef Stronoff himself was offered a prominent role in the Empire. One which he refused due to his personal loyalty to the king and the love he had towards his homeland.

Unlike Gazef, Tri'ade didn't have such attachments to the Kingdom. So perhaps as Guild-Master Ainzach said it was better for everyone that Tri'ade didn't involve himself in local politics.

True, he had already done so with his actions at Carne Village but there were extenuating circumstances there. The man had moved to save the villagers and being an elf it could hardly be expected of him to be neutral regarding the Slane Theocracy.

"Still, it seems the best thing we can do going forward is to treat him well and be on guard."

The Guild-master nodded.

"There is something more I'd like to ask you, Mayor — where are the corpses of Zuranon?"

"I have no idea." The Mayor scowled as he said this.

The mangled corpses left behind by Tri'ade had been placed in storage under the eyes of layers upon layers of guards, but they had vanished after daybreak. Although they suspected that someone had broken in and stolen them, the guards had not been attacked and there were no signs of anyone suspicious.

The storage area had been built in a way that inhibited the use of teleportation magic; one could say that it was something of a secret room. Thus, there was no sign of how the intruders had even managed to enter. It was as though the corpses had vanished in a puff of smoke.

They were still secretly searching for clues within the city, but nothing had turned up. The possibility of finding anything relevant was close to zero. In other words, there was nothing they could learn from the two corpses.

"Could it be that the unholy ritual they were conducting turned them into undead, which then escaped?"

"...We cannot rule that possibility out entirely."

"How troubling, we couldn't even get any evidence from it… the only possibility is that secret shrine under that chapel, no? It would be good if we could learn something useful from it."

"From what you said, it would seem that Tri'ade did not enter that place. If we found an owner-less magic item of great value in there, should we hand it to him?"

"Mmm, if those items have nothing to do with the ritual, then by adventurers' rules, they would belong to him."

* * *

 _ **The Re-Estize Kingdom-Off the Royal Highway**_

When Tri'ade and the rest of his party reached the bandit's hideout, the sun was already beginning to fade on the horizon. They were being led there by Cofre the ranger who had survived his party's destruction at the hands of the bandits.

Though they were still in the forest, the trees were growing thin, and beyond this place, there were no more trees, only an overgrown field littered with rocks.

This terrain was known as a karst.

There was a large hole in the center of a bowl-like depression, from which faint rays of light streamed out. Judging by the angle of the light, there must be a sloping path leading downward.

There were two shapes near the cave entrance. It was evident at a glance that they had been deliberately positioned there.

They were round wooden barricades reaching up to the height of a man's belly, though they were otherwise unremarkable. They were little more than a pile of wooden logs, but there was a sentry on each side.

It would seem the intention was to use the logs as cover from ranged attacks, so they could protect themselves if the enemy fired on them with bows and get inside to warn their comrades.

Under normal circumstances, launching a frontal attack from this distance would allow the bandits to prepare their weapons and send for reinforcements from the cave. Also, all the rocks which were big enough for intruders to hide behind had already been moved away, in order to prevent a stealth approach.

In addition, there were large bells on the sentries' shoulders. Even if they were somehow downed by a sneak attack, the sound of the bells would alert their friends to the presence of enemies.

Barring the use of magic, it would have been impossible to catch the bandits unaware. Again he found himself admiring the ingenuity of the native inhabitants of this world despite their lack of prowess.

With rage in his eyes, their guide Cofre drew his bow and Tri'ade grabbed his hand to stop him.

"They're well prepared for that."

"But..."

Dyne put a hand on Cofre's shoulder which began to slump.

"Listen to him. Decisions dictated by passion alone are seldom good ones."

Peter turned to look at Tri'ade and asked, "So what's the plan?"

Instead of suggesting his own course of action, Tri'ade had noticed Peter began mostly to defer to him. He thought perhaps it was Peter's recognition of his leadership over the group rather than the collaboration as it had been with their trip to Carne Village. But it could very well have been Peter's previous confidence was shaken by his experience with death.

He mulled that over as he looked at the bandits. His party members continued to stare until he spoke up.

"Well, given my strength and that of Narberal we could probably force our way in there. But considering their defenses it's likely they have dug an escape tunnel somewhere. It'd be trouble if they managed to escape."

"True, if they managed to regroup they could start robbing people on the roads again."

"So we need to draw them out into a fight and not reveal our strength early on. We can dispatch the front guards using magic. Then Narberal and I will hang back while the rest of you dispatch bandits further inside. You are around the same level as Cofre's former teammates so fighting you will make them overconfident."

Dyne scratched his beard contemplating Tri'ade's words, "So we will act as bait."

"Yeah, but what if we run into that katana guy?"

"A worm like you should be honored to fulfill its role," Narberal said, glaring at Lukrut.

Tri'ade looked to Lukrut to answer his question while ignoring Narberal's usual retorts.

"That's when I and Narberal reveal ourselves. Then we'll show these bandits how truly fucked they are for killing adventurers."

Everyone besides Narberal smiled at this despite the nervousness they clearly had in walking into the place where most of Axe Cyclone had already died.

"Peter, you'll lead the group going on ahead. Before me and Narberal start things off, let me start casting buffs on you guys."

"Buffs?"

"Augmentation magic, I know Ninya knows a few like reinforce armor."

"True but the duration isn't long."

"Extended meta-magic works wonders for that. What weapons will you guys be using? Lukrut, Cofre, hand me your arrow quivers too."

They looked at each other for a bit then did as Tri'ade asked them to do. He then laid them out before him on the ground. Repeating the same spell multiple times for each weapon.

"[Greater Magic Weapon]"

A blue magical aura spread from Tri'ade's hands and enveloped the weapons he cast his spell upon before vanishing from sight.

"There. Those enchantments should last for a few hours."

"You enchanted our weapons?!"

"I thought it took gold to enchant stuff?"

"It's only temporary but it should give you an edge against those bandits."

Greater Magic Weapon was a spell Tri'ade hadn't used in a very long time. At higher levels, it was practically useless. Since the enchantments it gave to weapons wouldn't stack along with existing enchantments on a weapon. It was mostly used at lower levels to try to bridge the gap between those players who could manage to afford lower tier magical weaponry and those that could not. Greater Magic Weapon could be used at mid tier levels somewhat due to its ability to enchant entire quivers of arrows at a time.

Tri'ade remembered in the old days when they delved deep in a dungeon he would have to use the spell on bundles of arrows for other members of the party. At times, Peroroncino would underestimate how many arrows he would need or didn't want to waste high-quality arrows on trash mobs they found wandering around.

That really wasn't an issue later when Peroroncino acquired Houyi's Bow. That divine-class weapon shot beams of concentrated sunlight. On top of only being countered by magic, the weapon had infinite ammunition.

"Come Narberal. You do know the [Silence] spell, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, my lord."

[Silence] was a good spell to know for many reasons. Besides the obvious applications to stealth, many spells required verbal components in order to cast them unless the caster knew how to cast spells silently.

Disrupting verbal or somatic components of spells through special abilities or spells were key in many anti-mage builds. Somatic being a fancy word describing the hand movement people used to cast spells. From what Tri'ade could remember, CZ had a special ability in which she shoots the hands of mages to stop them from casting their spell. He didn't remember the name of it, but it was far more reliable at higher levels. CZ didn't have to worry about spell resistance or casters simply casting spells silently to continue casting magic.

Having to ask Narberal what spells she knew showed a lack of preparation on his part. Once he had some free time on his hands again Tri'ade knew he should study up on the capabilities of Nazarick's NPC's. Though that might be difficult with Albedo around. He would need to find something to occupy her time with.

Both Tri'ade and Narberal crept closer to the cave the bandits had been using as a hideout. Narberal cast [Silence] first to envelop both bandit guards in an area of space completely devoid of sound. Then Tri'ade threw a fireball spell at them to incinerate them. The logs the bandits had intended to use as protection against ranged attacks were mere kindling to the flames burning their bodies.

"Advance and watch out for traps," Tri'ade said more as a command than a suggestion at this point.

Peter and the others in his team followed without question. Cofre tagged along with Peter's part of the group hoping to avenge his fallen comrades.

Tri'ade wanted to tell Cofre to stay back. He feared that Cofre might do something stupid in his pursuit of revenge. But the man had lost all of his friends to these bandits... He couldn't blame the man for wanting retribution. Figuring Cofre probably wouldn't listen to him, Tri'ade didn't bother.

If worse came to worse, Cofre would get himself killed as well as the others. He could always bring them back to life with the exception of Cofre. Hopefully, that would ingratiate himself to Peter and his friends more than them blaming him for it by sending them off ahead in the first place.

They definitely needed more experience and Tri'ade didn't really know exactly how the EXP distribution system in this world worked. Did party members share the experience? Is experience only awarded upon killing something? Or do you get exp upon completion of tasks, aka, experiencing taxing trials? And how exactly does studying factor into this?

Peter and his friends probably wouldn't gain any experience being grouped up with such a high-level player like him if it was party based. But if it was based solely on killing things the bandits would prove useful. It would be helpful to perform an experiment of him beating something powerful like a dragon to near death and then allowing Peter to finish it off.

If the mere act of killing was what gave out experience then it would probably level him up several times over. Provided there is not some sort of lower level cap for the native inhabitants of this world. Tri'ade didn't see why there would be though. If most of the people of this world were descended from Yggdrasil NPC's they would follow the same level cap of 100 as in the game right?

Granted that in the twelve years Yggdrasil was active, updates and expansions increased the level cap significantly. When it first came out the level cap was at sixty and legacy items weren't even available to players. The devs continually updated the game including more content, like how the Gunner class was added in the Valkyrie's Downfall update. But that would only be relevant if the ancestors of the people in the new world were teleported here from Yggdrasil before the game's final day. Which had frightening consequences if that were true.

Tri'ade soon began to hear sounds of fighting coming from inside the bandit hideout and he brushed that thought aside. He didn't even know for a fact if his speculation on the origin of the people of this world was true or not. There was still too much to learn for him. Even the basic common sense of this world was still a mystery. He sometimes felt like a fish out of water, comforted only in the fact that his power, that Nazarick's power, was obviously superior to anything else in this world.

He and Narberal then went into the bandit hideout following behind Peter's group. Tri'ade cast a [Sphere of Invisibility] spell on the both of them so he could watch Peter's group fight without revealing himself to the bandits. They were doing fairly well against the bandits who were about as well equipped as Peter's group but certainly were no adventurers in regards to combat skill.

The enchanted weapons they were using and Ninya's magic certainly helped things go in their favor as they proceeded to kill bandit after bandit. Still, it was the defenders who had the advantage. The bandits' use of fortified cover and the fact Peter's group had to search for traps slowed the group's progress into the hideout.

* * *

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-Bandit Hideout**_

Deep within the Bandits' hideout, there was a large room. There was no door to this room only a bluish purple sheet covering the entryway. A rug made out of the same material was at the foot of the entryway. Lanterns enchanted with the [Continual Light] spell provided the room with light and were set alongside the cavern walls, the places which they stood carved into the walls. Along the far wall of the room furthest from the door was a bed with a canopy draped on top of it with the same bluish purple material. However, unlike the entryway, the canopy of the bed was decorated with depictions of flowers and other things showing its craftsmanship.

This was the room of Brain Unglaus, the current leader of the Death Spreading Brigade. He had taken over this group after he left the Re-Estize capital, looking to improve his swordsmanship. While he had gotten many offers from nobles to become a part of their retinues, none of it interested him. He wouldn't get stronger and better at swordsmanship working for those posh nobles. More likely he would get weaker as his skills rusted.

Adventuring didn't suit him either despite it being profitable. They rarely fought human opponents being the monster killers that they were. With his ultimate goal of defeating Gazef Stronoff, that sort of experience didn't appeal to him.

The annual wars with the Empire ensured this outfit could see plenty of action when hostilities flared up with the Kingdom again. Banditry was just a means to pay for food and other supplies during peacetime. There were... side benefits, of course, the proceeds they had from robbing people helped pay for his nice bed after all. A good night's sleep, after all, is important for anyone working a difficult job.

Though what helped him sleep more was probably less the bed itself than who was on it. Brain looked back through the canopy and saw the fiery redhead who laid strewn across it. She had a lot of spirit in her, unlike the other girls his men kept in their base. Brain had to tie her to the bed to prevent her from trying to kill him in his sleep.

It had only been a few days since he had captured her himself when she and her friends tried to kill him. He had managed to knock her out with the back of his pommel when she lunged to attack him. Her friends weren't so fortunate.

Brain had taken her for his own after that. He liked her rough features and her solid muscles. More than that though, he liked her spirit. The rest of the women here were dead lays, just sitting back and allowing the bandits to have their way with them. She struggled and moved her hips. At times he even believed she liked it despite her protests to the contrary.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Brain went back to oiling his blade with a slick piece of cloth. He stopped when he began to hear the clamor of battle outside of his room. People were shouting and screaming with the sound echoing off the cavern walls.

They had been attacked, but there was still no idea of the attackers' numbers and their abilities. This was in spite of being trained to loudly shout that information when an attack came.

There were close to seventy people in the mercenary band known as the Death-Spreading Brigade. They were not as strong as him, but they were still grizzled veterans.

A raid by a small number of men would not cause such chaos. With that in mind, it might be reasonable to deduce that a large force had descended upon them. However, that did not explain why there was no sound of a great host outside, and the enemy did not feel that numerous.

"More adventurers?"

Brain hadn't expected another attack to happen so soon. The Guild shouldn't have known where their hideout was. He had, after all, killed the entire party that had attacked before, or so he thought. Looking over to Brita he wondered for a moment if she could have sent word out but she had been chained in his room this entire time.

He slowly rose to his feet, hanging his weapon at his waist. He put on a chainmail shirt, which did not take much time to do. Then, he attached a leather pouch with several potion bottles to his belt and tied it in place. Since he was already wearing his enchanted necklace and rings, his preparations were now complete.

"You are going to pay!" Brita yelled, struggling against the ropes that bound her on the bed.

"Heh, I didn't know you were a whore."

The red-haired woman blushed as scarlet as the hair upon her head before blurting out, "They're going to kill you. You bastard!"

He brushed his hair back and smiled a wicked grin at Brita.

"That's not going to happen. Now you wait here till I get back. Nothing like a fight to get the blood pumping."

He flung aside the curtain before stepping onto a central path within the cave. It was bright enough that one could scarcely believe they were in a cave thanks to the numerous lanterns on the walls.

Brain moved toward the entrance which was under attack, another man burst in from the other direction. He seemed quite familiar — he was a sell-sword from the Brigade. As the mercenary saw him, a look of triumph blossomed on his face.

"What happened?"

"Brain! Thank the Gods! We're being attacked."

The bitterly smiling man — Brain — responded, "Yeah, that much is obvious. How many?"

"Oh, right. There are five of them. They got a mage and two archers."

"Huh, fewer than before. Did you see any adventurer plates?"

"They had Mythril plates but they don't look well equipped."

That didn't surprise Brain. The adventurer ranking system was only a rough evaluation of a team's strength. He had heard that a group of adventurers in the Empire got ranked Adamantite due to their teamwork rather than each member's individual skill.

"I'll handle this. Head back and fortify our inner defense."

After giving the sell-sword his orders, Brain strode forth towards the invaders of his hideaway.

* * *

Peter and the others had just finished killing the bandits at the mouth of the cave entrance. Tri'ade could count at least eight bandits dead at their feet. Most of them died on their feet but a few of them tried falling back further into the cave. Those cowards were rewarded with arrows to their backside from Lakrut and Cofre.

It was rather quick work thanks to the magic enchantments they had on their weapons. No arrow seemed to miss their target when they were fired from their archers and the bandits fell relatively quickly to even someone of Peter's level. Tri'ade had wondered if he had given them too much of an advantage. These were bandits, true, but supposedly these bandits were veteran mercenaries gone rogue. Their combat skills didn't seem to reflect this fact in his mind.

Tri'ade's previous worries that Peter and his group might hesitate in killing human opponents were proven to be without merit. In retrospect, he began to suspect his doubt came from the fact that he had lived in a relatively peaceful world where a murder of any kind was uncommon. Peter and his friends didn't have the benefit of that.

Before their group could proceed any further in the cavern, the shape of a man appeared before them. It was a rather tall man with blue hair and at his hip hung a katana fastened there by a loose fitting belt. He matched the rough description Tri'ade had heard earlier from the Mayor.

Again, he was scratching his head at the lack of armor on the natives. This man wore a tight shirt which was black on the outside and red on the inside. The only thing that looked like armor was a pair of leather bracers on his wrists. Though the man could be wearing a chain shirt underneath that would be of limited protection.

"Oi, oi, it looks like you guys had a lot of fun." Brain said this rather casually to the group of adventurers he was facing.

Peter took a step back and yelled out, "It's Brain Unglaus!"

That was Tri'ade's cue to appear. Though he didn't need Peter to yell it out, being nearby. Both he and Narberal appeared behind Peter's group and he stepped forward. Brain for his part began to have a look of concern on his face seeing Tri'ade and Narberal appear at the mere mention of his name.

"So this is the man who destroyed Axe of Cyclone and rivals Gazef Stronoff..."

"You know my name. You have me at a disadvantage."

"In more ways than one. But my name is Tri'ade Nazarick, leader of Darkness, this team of adventurers."

Pointing over to Cofre, Tri'ade said, "Oh, and this man beside me is Cofre, formerly of Axe Cyclone. The one you must thank for arranging our meeting."

"I see..."

Cofre was glaring at Brain in a simmering rage though Brain didn't seem fazed by it.

"I'm sure you have already surmised why we are here. So let us get to the point. I want to duel you. If I win, you either surrender or die whichever comes first. If you win, my party will leave."

"What?! We should kill him now together."

"If he can beat me you're all doomed."

Cofre responded to the offer of the duel with Brain as expected. But Tri'ade didn't really care. As long as Brain accepted the duel that's all that mattered. The offer of a duel was to his advantage after all given his disadvantage in numbers. While the cavern passage was small so it made it difficult for a group as large of Tri'ade's to fight him effectively, they still had multiple mages in their ranks to give him serious concern.

Holding his katana in with both hands in front of him Brain smiled.

"I accept. May the better man win."

Leaning forward, he sheathed his blade back into his hilt and waited for Tri'ade to come forward. Obviously, he intended to do some quick draw move with his sword. Tri'ade had seen plenty of anime with samurai doing the exact same thing.

Tri'ade lunged forward with his great sword leveled at a vertical angle ready to block any incoming attack to his torso. When he reached about three meters away from Brain, the man attacked with lightning speed in a horizontal slash at his neck but Tri'ade caught it with his blade. He shoved Brain back and lunged the tip of his greatsword forward.

Brain moved backward to get out of its reach. Once again they were separated by several meters. Brain had a shocked look on his face.

"How? How did you block my God Slash?"

Tri'ade tilted his head at this. "Is that what you call it?"

Brain remained silent. Tri'ade raised his sword and shifted his right shoulder facing Brain.

"Even a novice should know not to telegraph their attacks. It doesn't matter how fast you are, if you tell me how you are going to strike ahead of time, I can counter it."

"[Strong Assault]"

Holding his Katana with it raised vertically to his side, Brain went on the attack. Leaping up into the air he swung his sword down upon Tri'ade who parried it with his greatsword raised horizontally.

"What did I just say?!"

Tri'ade swung his greatsword in a downward strike against Brain. Brain did not have time to dodge it this time.

"[Fortress!]"

With that, the momentum left the greatsword barreling towards Brain and it bounced off his Katana as if it was made out of foam. This reversal of momentum left Tri'ade reeling back. The feeling of weight and momentum leaving only for an instant to come back again was surreal to him. This created an opening which Brain exploited.

"[Severing Blade!]"

Brain swung down at Tri'ade's right bicep where the armor of his arm was weakest, between his pauldron and bracers. It was clear the intent behind the strike was to cripple Tri'ade's sword arm. One could hear gasps from the people watching the fight as the blade landed... where it bounced off him. Tri'ade had not de-activated his High Tier Invulnerability Field.

After recovering, Tri'ade swung his blade in a horizontal slash against his assailant and Brain jumped back to get out of the way. He was beginning to breathe heavily at this point, the consecutive uses of martial arts and jumping around was taking its toll on his stamina.

"Aren't you full of surprises?"

"Just a defense skill. Pay it no heed."

Trying to downplay the fact he was invulnerable, he tried to keep Brain focused on fighting him rather than realizing how badly outmatched he was. Tri'ade wanted to keep this fight going on for longer. But he probably should end this duel sooner than later. If Brain began to realize the true disparity between them he might try to flee.

"If you say so."

Dashing forward, Tri'ade launched a flurry of slashing attacks, pressing Brain further back into the cave. The speed in which he attacked Brain left him no time to counterattack he could only focus on evading to defend himself. This drained his already depleted stamina so he couldn't continue this for long.

Seeing his opponent beginning to brace himself to stand his ground, Tri'ade held firm the long handle of his greatsword using both hands as he swung his sword down upon Brain. The air swirled around them from the force of the swing.

"[Fortress]"

As the obsidian blade of adamantite clashed upon cold steel it held firm as it did before... but it did not bounce off. The black blade began to dig into the katana before the steel blade broke in half.

"Argh!"

The blade did not go any further down. Its momentum had been lost. But that didn't stop metal debris falling upon Brain's face and he fell onto his knees reeling from the strike. Following up on the attack Tri'ade pulled his greatsword back and thrust it right into Brain's abdomen. The adamantine blade easily pierced his chain shirt and Brain began to slump back on the floor bleeding.

Those watching the fight from the sidelines were in awe. Tri'ade had not only penetrated Brain Unglaus' fortress martial art but broke his katana on top of it. He was excited about this too. It meant that the annoying fortress martial art had limits. That it didn't make opponents invulnerable like his high tier invulnerability field but merely raised their physical defense to an absurd degree.

He was happy about that. Tri'ade didn't like the idea of other people becoming effectively invulnerable to his attacks. Hypocritical of him perhaps, given his high tier invulnerability field but he wasn't confident in his swordsmanship. Tri'ade knew his key advantage in defeating opponents was the sheer brute force he was able to exert rather than any true mastery of swordsmanship. That he still had much to learn.

Still holding onto life, Brain was clutching his stomach where he continued to bleed out. Brain began to waver barely able to hold himself up.

"Hahahaha! Ahh. She was right."

He fell onto his back and he gazed up onto the ceiling of the cavern in a blurred haze. Turning his head over he looked at the broken katana beside him, the weapon he had spent so much coin and effort into acquiring. Tears began to form in his eyes.

"What a waste..."

Tri'ade could see the life leaving the man's eyes as he died. The man was utterly beaten in the end but his last words piqued his curiosity. Tri'ade wondered who he might have been referring to.

 _Wait... There are women here?_

He looked back at all the bandit corpses in the corridor. All of them were men but his attention shifted with the rest of his party gathering around him.

"Amazing!"

"I knew you could do it!"

Cofre looked upon Brain's bloody corpse and bowed to Tri'ade.

"Thank you so much."

"Eh. You're welcome. But it is not a time to celebrate. There are more bandits ahead." Tri'ade raised his sword high pointing forward down the cavern corridor as he said this.

"You're right. Let us finish this."

The group went forward, together this time, to crush the remaining bandits in the hideout.

* * *

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-Bandit Hideout-Brain's Quarters**_

Brita couldn't help but shiver on the bed. She was naked on the bed, tied to the bedposts. That bastard didn't even have the decency to put the covers on her when leaving her here like this. It was so humiliating...

The only remote silver lining in all this was that no one she knew could see her like this. She also didn't fear another bandit coming into Brain's room while he was away. The last time one of the bandits tried to touch her, Brain had cut off the filthy prick's hand.

Her ears perked up. The sound of fighting which had continued since Brain left had stopped. It was over. She struggled against the ropes binding her hands to the bed. if only she could get a hand loose before Brain came back. Then she could free her other hand and get ready for tonight. If she could grab the katana Brain always left at the side of the bed when he slept, she could escape.

It was then she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway. She expected Brain to come through the curtain at the entryway. Despite what she had said earlier to him she knew there were few in the Kingdom who could match blades with him and live. Her dead friends were a testament to that. Brita said what she did out of spite more than anything else.

But it wasn't Brain. Instead, a striking figure she had seen once before came from behind the curtain. A man in elaborate gold and red armor. The man who had given her that red potion Lizzy Bareare said was of God's Blood.

 _What on earth was he doing here?!_

Tri'ade moved forward towards the bed and moved the canopy curtain out of the way to see her clearly. Brita could feel the stare he was giving her. It was so embarrassing...

He unequipped his greatsword and propped it against the wall of the cavern before sitting down on the bed.

"Well, you are certainly in a sticky situation."

Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment at Tri'ade's snarky remark.

"Sh-shut it! Untie me!"

"You're a rude damsel in distress. But I suppose that's better than the alternative."

Removing his gauntlets putting them on the bed beside him. Tri'ade got up and began untying the ropes binding Brita's arms to the bed. Soon she was free of them and rubbed her sore wrists where the tightrope left their mark on her. Meanwhile, Tri'ade put his gauntlets back on and looked around the room.

"Feels like fate that we met again... Oh."

"What is it?!"

Brita feared there were other people coming into the room. She used her hands to cover herself but was afraid to go beyond the bed's canopy curtain for her clothes.

"I just realized I don't know your name."

"How is that important right now? I need my clothes."

Looking around the room for a cabinet and failing to find one, Tri'ade shrugged.

"Go get them then. I don't know where they are."

"Eh?! B-but I can't."

Getting past the curtains Tri'ade laid down at the foot of the bed surprising Brita. Looking at her he said.

"Well, I'm tired from killing scores of bandits. I can call Cofre here to look for them for you. You two are friends, right?"

 _"Cofre's alive?! Of course, he got away and got help._

Before Brita got into too high of spirits the stickiness around her crotch dampened her mood.

 _I can't let him see me like this!_

"No! I-I mean, yes, we are friends, but... I'll get them myself."

Slinking out of bed, she looked around for the large pot she had seen Brain put her clothes in. Brita found them and began putting everything on. Starting with her underwear and the rest of her clothes. She didn't see her sword or other equipment anywhere so the bandits must have taken them for themselves.

Turning around, she saw Tri'ade sitting up on the bed. Brita wondered if he had watched her change into her clothes.

"Now that you're dressed, let me properly introduce myself."

He got up from the bed and moved closer to her. Brita saw the Mythril plate around Tri'ade's neck.

"Tri'ade Nazarick, leader of Darkness. It's a pleasure to see you again."

"I'm sure it is. Brita of... well what's left of Axe of Cyclone. You got promoted quickly."

She pointed to his adventurer plate.

"Ah, well... A lot can happen in two days. As you can surely attest to."

"Yes... it can."

A sullen look came over Brita as she recalled what happened to her, her friends dying then being... captured by Brain.

"Don't dwell on the past. Focus on the future. You can't change what has happened."

"R-Right..."

Brita was still in shock regarding everything.

"Let us go see Cofre and the others. He'll be glad to see you. We thought everyone else in your group had died."

"I need to get my equipment back."

"The others are searching this place for loot. We'll see if they have turned up anything."

After that, they left Brain's room. Tri'ade's party found multiple other women that were captured like Brita was. In the bandit's storeroom, they found a large stockpile of valuables including the gear Axe of Cyclone had.

Granted they couldn't take everything of value back with them to E-Rantel, so Tri'ade's party let Axe of Cyclone take what they could identify and picked up the most valuable things. After that, they, along with the captured women, left the cave of the Bandit's hideout, though numerous shadows moved in their wake, taking dead bodies and looting nearly everything that wasn't nailed down.

* * *

 _ **Re-Estize Kingdom-City of E-Rantel**_

The legend of Darkness grew when Cofre and Brita came back with them to E-Rantel. Stories of how Tri'ade bested Brain Unglaus in single combat were repeated in taverns around the city for days afterward.

After getting their reward from the Guild and dividing up the loot, Tri'ade stated to them he had some personal business to attend to. Once again their leader left Darkness on their own for several hours leaving them uncertain of what to do next.

Later Narberal came to them alone and told them to follow her. It was only when they saw the inn itself and asked Narberal about it did they figure it was to meet Tri'ade. But they didn't see Tri'ade down in the inn's bar and lobby where one would normally meet with other adventurers.

They followed Narberal right up to their room in the inn. Peter began to wonder how they would all fit in the tiny room. This inn was for copper-plates after all and most of the individual rooms were small. Perhaps if they had met in the Shining Golden Pavilion they would have private suites large enough.

Peter's questions were answered when Narberal had opened the door. What laid beyond it was an obsidian gateway so dark it seemed to be a complete void in space in front of him.

"Step through the Gate. Our Master awaits."

"What is that?" Lakrut asked pointing at the Gate.

Narberal glared at him. "It's the Gate, you stupid maggot. Now go through it." She grabbed Lakrut and tossed him through it. The rest of the Swords of Darkness followed in behind, not wanting to provoke Narberal further.

When they did, what they saw as they passed through the gate was amazing. They were now in a large luxurious office. Ninya was beginning to wonder what sort of teleportation magic that "gate" was when she and her friends saw those who were before them.

It was Tri'ade Nazarick, but he was different. Two short horns protruded from his head and his eyes glowed red with a malevolent aura to them. He wore the red flame embroidered robes which he had given to Ninya to wear a few days before with its hood down.

Beside him was an otherworldly beauty even more captivating to behold than Narberal Gamma. She was no human either as evident by her horns and the black wings at her hips. Lakrut stared at her with longing and fear.

He could only look at her with his mouth agape and could hardly believe his eyes. _Someone more beautiful than even Narberal,_ he thought! He couldn't believe it.

"Y-you're a demon..." Ninya said with a quiver of fear in her voice.

Dyne looked behind them.

"The Gate is gone."

Peter went pale as he recalled Tri'ade's words to him the night before. Of Tri'ade warning him before accepting his offer to resurrect him and his friends.

Tri'ade interlocked his hands together in front of his mouth looking at their reactions. Peter was taking it hard but the rest reacted about how he expected they would.

"Is this any way to greet your master?! Such disrespect."

Albedo was steaming beside Tri'ade, frightening the members of Darkness. He raised his hand to silence her before she continued.

"I'm certain it's not their intention."

Peter quickly bowed.

"N-No, it isn't. Apologies but all of this is unexpected."

"I'm sure it is. We did not have the opportunity to discuss what it means to serve me. We have been quite busy."

"Where are we?" Dyne asked as he looked around the room in curiosity.

"My home. Though perhaps you could call it my lair? Whichever you prefer, although it's proper name would be the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

Tri'ade raised his hand to motion for silence from the humans.

"Before you ask, I took the tomb's name as my last name when I chose to explore this world."

Eyeing him warily Ninya asked bluntly, "What do you want from us?"

"What was promised. Your service."

"As slaves?"

He chuckled at Ninya's assumption of being slaves.

"Heh, no. Frankly, I don't like slaves. You can't trust them. I'd rather have willing servants. So if you do not like the conditions of your servitude, tell me. We can always come to a new arrangement to repay your debt to me."

"Generous but what... who are you really? Lukrut asked having come out of his lurid stares at Albedo and now focused on the current conversation.

"Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to re-introduce myself."

Tri'ade stood up from his desk.

"I am the Arch-Devil Tri'ade, Lord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and Guild Master of Ainz Ooal Gown."

He grabbed Albedo's hand after turning to her.

"This is my wife and Overseer of the Guardians, Albedo. She rules Nazarick in my stead while I'm away. My so-called personal business that I've had to attend to has been with her."

Albedo blushed and smiled at being introduced as his wife and Tri'ade returned the smile back. The sight of the happy demonic couple and Tri'ade's introduction shocked the adventurers.

"Ah..." Lukrut realized where he heard that name before. Narberal had spoken of a Lady Albedo during the journey to Carne Village. He realized what Narberal had meant then about Tri'ade having Albedo. His vain hopes to be with Narberal continued.

Dyne scratched his beard as he pondered what to say before saying it.

"If you don't mind me asking, Lord Tri'ade. Why did you save us? What could we possibly offer you?"

It didn't make sense to Dyne. Tri'ade was incredibly powerful. The fact that he was a demon explained some of that but led to his confusion elsewhere. He feared what their service to Tri'ade might mean for them. Dyne had heard about the sadism of demons, the demon gods of two hundred years ago seemed to delight only in suffering and destruction after all.

But if that was true for Tri'ade, that didn't make his actions in Carne Village or E-Rantel make sense. Tri'ade had saved Carne Village. More than that, he offered his protection to the village for free giving away those magical horns. Why work as an adventurer?

"Good question... I could list various justifications for it but the safest thing for me to have done would have been to leave you all to die. Hell, this conversation alone is a threat to my plans. You could inform the Guild about all of this. Nothing you could offer me would outweigh the risks I gained by saving you and employing you."

He and his friends began to sweat. They knew the truth of what Tri'ade was saying.

Their service was worth little to someone as powerful and wealthy as Tri'ade was. Due to him being a demon if the Adventurer's Guild ever found it out not only would he face expulsion but he would be hunted. Not that the Guild could kill someone like Tri'ade, but they thought it certainly could make things difficult for him.

The chaos and devastation left in the wake of the Demon Gods cemented in everyone's mind's the abject evil demons were capable of. Regardless of the fact he had saved Carne Village and E-Rantel they would harass Tri'ade and treat him as a threat to all of humanity.

Tri'ade was enjoying the nervousness of his new servants a bit too much so he decided to end it.

"To answer the question. I saved you because I wanted to. Because I could. Your deaths were a tragedy, one that I could undo. While I could ask you to do many things for me I require only one thing for you to serve me."

He raised his index finger up to indicate the one thing he was asking for.

"Do not make me regret it. Do not betray the trust I have given you by meeting like this. Everything else. Every other thing I ask of you, you may refuse if you so wish."

The arch-devil which lay before Peter and his friends warmly smiled at them. Making them doubt everything they ever heard about the sadistic evil of demonkind. The man they saw had the heart of a saint and was a hero to many, including themselves.

It reminded them of the legends they heard of the Black Knight who the old tales said was born a half-demon. If a half-demon could be one of the Thirteen Heroes what could stop a full-blooded demon being a hero? In a more cynical light perhaps they also knew in their hearts there was little they could do to stop him even if they wanted to.

So Peter knelt before Tri'ade and his friends followed behind him. Their previous trepidation and doubt vanished in their hearts.

"Of course! You can count on us. We are honored to have your trust."

"Good. Good. Don't fret too much about serving me. I have arranged for your new equipment to be readied and training prepared. Darkness will become an adamantite team in no time at all."

Ninya looked up from where she was kneeling and spoke in a soft tone, "Uh... Master. I don't wish to sound ungrateful but can I ask something of you?"

Being intrigued by this, Tri'ade calmed down the annoyed succubus beside him who thought Ninya was being disrespectful.

"Of course."

"It's about my sister..."

* * *

 **Afterword**

... Well, I HAD an awesome afterword that would explain my thoughts and feelings perfectly about this chapter. As well as some plans, etc. but Fanfiction HAD to give a "FanFiction. Net Login Required". This erased all of it and some bits from the last scene of the chapter. I had to re-type it from memory.

The summary is this. Guest Reviewer: you get a cookie for having a suspicion of what I was planning for Brita. Cofre didn't have the opportunity to properly inspect the bodies so his report was not 100% reliable in that respect. Surprised so many reviewers mourned Brita. I wonder if anyone will mourn Brain the Nail Clipper, frenemy of Gazef Stronoff.

Anyways, surprised this chapter came together so soon. Had fun writing it. Don't expect the next chapter to come out as quickly as this one. I kinda modified scene details and progression from the anime and light novels to help write this one. Next chapter I won't have the benefit of that. Hopefully, I can get something together by the end of the month.

Happy 4th of July for those in America celebrating it along with me. ;)

Edited: Some grammar and spelling mistakes corrected July 6th after being pointed out by a guest reviewer.

Edited once again for spelling mistakes, etc. January 11, 2019 by PervySageChuck


	15. Volume 3: Chapter 3: Search

_**Volume 3: Darkness, Chapter 13: Search**_

 ** _9th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick_**

In his offices deep within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Tri'ade was becoming frustrated. The source of this frustration was in front of him. A mirror that was showing the Great Forest of Tob outside of Nazarick. It was a Mirror of Remote Viewing, one of many scrying tools at his disposal. Sighing, he rested his head on the palm of his hand.

He was trying to use it to find Tuareninya Veyron. She was Ninya's older sister that had been abducted from her village by a lecherous noble years ago. The sister Ninya now wanted Tri'ade to find...

Tri'ade had left Peter to lead the team with Narberal watching over them. They were doing some gold ranked quests while he was here trying to look for Ninya's sister. Normally, he wouldn't trust them on their own after getting killed in E-Rantel but with their new equipment, they should be fine doing lower ranked quests.

They definitely needed the money from quests and having Peter and his friends earning gold helped with expenses. Their lodging and food weren't cheap but among his servants, they were the only ones making a profit overall. It couldn't be helped though. With most of his servants being of monstrous races, the only way they could get money used in human society would be to rob humans.

He didn't want to resort to that. Regardless of the moral or ethical issues with it, such actions would draw unwanted attention. The attention of local authorities and adventurers. Given what he knew of this world his servants could probably kill anyone who tried to apprehend them but it would be a waste of human life all the same.

Drawing the wrong sort of attention was the same reason he didn't want to use Yggdrasil gold coins.

Regardless of how tempting it was to take some out of the treasury to pay for whatever he needed it still marked him as a foreigner and anyone from Yggdrasil would know where he got them from.

Without knowing if there were other Yggdrasil players still around operating in this world, it was a risk.

Of course, there was another danger when it came to using Yggdrasil currency. Inflation. It was a common mistake for people to think coins backed by precious metals led to a lack of inflation. It was true that precious metals are more difficult to produce, but as the Spanish showed in the 16th-century, inflation can still occur.

The treasury fleets from the New World overburdened with gold and silver from the Americas made the Spanish incredibly wealthy but all the new gold coins minted from it caused prices for everything to skyrocket in Spain. Some historians even attributed Spanish inflation to the decline of the Spanish Empire later on.

The Treasury of Nazarick, if unleashed could devastate the economies of the three nations surrounding the Great Tomb. Tri'ade wasn't savvy enough in economics to determine how bad it would be but if he put too many gold coins into wider circulation it would happen.

Inflation was sort of inevitable when you introduce new gold into the market. Frankly, it would ease his mind if Nazarick had something other than gold coins but Yggdrasil's currency was entirely gold based. Tri'ade imagined a future where silver or even copper coins were worth more than gold coins in this new world.

This request of Ninya's was becoming more difficult than he imagined. Given the differences in their positions, Tri'ade could have easily refused to help her locate her sister. But it would tarnish whatever reputation he had built with Peter and the rest of his group if he didn't at least try to find Tuare.

Peter had technically signed over their lives in service to him but contracts made under duress were flimsy things. Tri'ade had hoped to enforce that original contract with incentives to motivate them to remain. He felt that was needed, given the reputation of demons in this world.

No rational person would quickly forgo reason to serve an Arch-Devil so readily given that well-earned reputation. For all Tri'ade knew, Peter and his friends could be plotting to undermine him this very moment. It was why he had Narberal watch them and post a few shadow demons to monitor their activities after all.

It might have been easier if he kept deceiving them about his true nature, but Tri'ade wasn't confident in that working out in the long run. He couldn't just make up the excuse of "personal business" whenever Nazarick demanded his attention.

Peter and his friends would have found out eventually. Better the truth comes from him before they uncovered it from a mountain of lies. That way he could spin it to his advantage rather than his detriment. It also made things easier for him while shifting things off onto Narberal and the Shadow Demons.

Still, finding Tuare was a difficult task given the lack of leads. Tuare was taken away from her while Ninya was still a young child. Scrying divination magic in general works more efficiently the more you know about the object or person you are trying to locate using magic.

Ninya only knew of her sister's name and could describe what she looked like back when she was taken. From her recollection that occurred eight years ago. Tuare could be anywhere including an unmarked grave somewhere. Which was why Tri'ade was trying to use the Mirror of Remote Viewing to locate her.

Unlike the Scrying magic spell, this mirror could locate places, objects, and people that the caster had no knowledge of and project it on its reflective surface. In-game, one merely had to type in a name of a player or place through the menu to get them to show up.

But Tri'ade hadn't had access to the game menu since he came to this New World. So he had spent the last hour or so trying to learn how to use the Mirror of Remote Viewing using trial and error. So far, the best he could figure out were the motion controls and elevation on the view screen. The search feature still eluded him. He tried various verbal command to no avail.

Tri'ade looked to Albedo who was standing faithfully at his side. She was probably the only one he could trust implicitly.

"I could use a break. Have the maid bring us a pitcher of cola and milk chocolate bars."

He felt odd using such names for things. But without brand labeling, it was what they were called.

"Of course, darling. I'll be right back."

Albedo bowed and went off to fetch the maid waiting outside in the corridor. He had forbidden the maid from entering the office like he had done so many other times. Most of the times he wanted some privacy from the other servants.

There were protests of course. Demiurge wanted a group of eight edged assassins stationed in his private quarters at all times and whenever he had ordered the maids outside the room they looked so sad.

But he didn't want the latter in the room when Albedo got frisky. At least that was the reason at first. Right now he didn't want rumors getting out of him having trouble using the Mirror of Remote Viewing. When Shalltear barged into the room during one of their romps Tri'ade found out he didn't mind his servants watching as much as he first thought.

Perhaps he was secretly an exhibitionist? No.. It was probably because he knew Shalltear would enjoy seeing it. Thinking on it, embarrassment was a social reaction to doing inappropriate things and the fear of getting shamed for it. The NPC's thought of him as a being that could do no wrong and would never think to shame him.

Leaning back in his chair, Tri'ade thought about his harem. When he first wrote the modifications to Albedo's settings it was more of an idle fantasy than a serious consideration. _I mean what man doesn't have such fantasies?_

But before he became the Lord of Nazarick in this world, he didn't really have much experience with women besides rejection. Not that he earnestly pursued many women in his life. Some people might have considered him a shut-in but he always found video games and reading more interesting than playing with friends in the real world.

So when it came to actually start building a harem, he had been putting it off. It was awkward and felt sleazy to ask his female servants to join it. And if it was just about sex, Albedo was ravenous in the bedroom. Tri'ade could hardly keep up with her libido.

Things changed though when he face fucked Shalltear though. He couldn't deny her a place in his harem after that happened. Rather than being his second wife though he made her his concubine.

That pleased Albedo but made Shalltear so sad he couldn't stand it. Tri'ade made up a reason on the spot for the difference in rank that wasn't about her petite appearance. How the rank of a wife was reserved for political reasons. The idea got in his head from thinking about dynastic politics.

In medieval societies, like how the Kingdom appeared to be, political marriages were important to forge alliances. If he made every woman in his harem his wife he doubted it would appeal to many in the future to be the 12th or something wife of Tri'ade Nazarick.

In retrospect he liked that idea the more he thought about it. The title of concubine sounded more of a casual affair made official than having another wife. Like a girlfriend on the side maybe? Tri'ade didn't know. All he knew of harems was from animes and those never went beyond the fan-service stage. So he had to make it up as he went along.

It was around the time Tri'ade was beginning to think of adding Narberal or Solution to the harem as concubines that Albedo came back with a rolling tray with his requested snacks.

"That was fast."

Albedo picked up a pitcher perched on a bowl of ice and began pouring Tri'ade some fizzy Cola. Besides the pitcher, there were milk chocolate bars and chocolate chip cookies.

"I had the maids prepare this in advance."

He grabbed the glass of cola and began to drink it. While there were better drinks in Nazarick he preferred cola to drink. It didn't really fit the style of an Arch-Devil or Lord of a castle though.

Some sort of wine or other alcoholic beverage probably would have fit appearances. But alcohol ruined the taste of any beverage in his opinion and as a demon, he couldn't really get drunk with his immunity to poison. So he stuck with what he drank back on Earth.

 _"Old habits die hard."_

"You know me well, dear."

Fiddling with the Mirror of Remote Viewing, he saw the surrounding area until he came across Carne Village. Tri'ade saw villagers go about their daily lives in the village. Some of them were even practicing archery with the goblin troop.

"They seem to be doing well."

"Thanks to your benevolence. Lupusregina reported Lizzy Bareare and Nfirea have settled in that house, I believe."

She pointed to one of the larger homes in the village which had a stone chimney billowing out smoke.

Tri'ade idly spoke his mind while looking at the house, "I wonder if Enri has moved in with them yet."

"Huh?"

"W-Well, given Enri is their new village chief it would be rather convenient if they both lived together."

"Of course! We can have Lupusregina do that at once."

 _"What?! Forced habitation together? No way..."_

"No need to go that far. They love each other. It will happen in due time if it hasn't already."

"Understood. I'll be sure to tell Lupusregina to inquire about that for her next report."

"Well, I guess that's fine."

He took a bite of a chocolate bar as he pondered how to get the Mirror of Remote Viewing to activate its search function. Tri'ade let the chocolate slowly melt in his mouth, savoring it.

Thinking back on how he used the Mirror of Remote Viewing in-game to search for people, he went through the steps. Selecting the item, then going down on the drop-down menu to search and then finally typing out the name of the person in question.

Asking a simple question to himself: How would one do that without a menu? An answer dawned on him when he asked another question. What did people do before menus?

Deciding to try it out, Tri'ade sipped on his cola, washing the chocolate down his throat and spoke to the Mirror of Remote Viewing once again.

"Mirror of Remote Viewing, search Tuareninya Veyron."

The view screen on the mirror moved rapidly to another place. So much so the images on the screen blurred for a time until settling on a new place. Settling eventually on a group of buildings in what appeared to be a city.

Hearing the sound of clapping to his side he looked over to Albedo.

"I knew you could do it. My Lord."

Tri'ade felt awkward receiving the praise though. Getting so excited over achieving so little felt... underwhelming. If it came from anyone else he would suspect they were being sarcastic.

"Ah, yes. Just needed a break to get a fresh perspective on the matter."

Turning his gaze back onto the buildings displayed on the mirror he tried moving the image around to get a better idea of where it was. However, no matter how far out he panned or moved around it didn't matter. He even tried to look at signs at nearby shops but they didn't use lettering only symbols to denote what type of shop it was.

 _"I have no idea where this is!"_

It was like using Google Maps in satellite view without place names labeling locations in the area. Completely useless unless you already had an idea what you were looking at or how the location related to where you are.

"This is progress at least. This Tuare is in one of the large cities. That does narrow down the search somewhat."

"I still don't know why you are putting so much effort into finding this human girl. She isn't worth your time, my love."

"No... she isn't. But it's good practice. Figuring out the skills needed to find someone like this using only a name is useful. Back in Yggdrasil, I used these mirrors all the time to locate potential targets."

Granted, back then it was mostly for Player Killing than to find a kidnapped girl in distress. But the information gathered was often invaluable. Despite the limitations of the mirror being unable to look inside buildings and having no sound to go with the images it showed the user.

To know what city he was looking at, he would have to go there himself and ask someone. To get to the city he would have to use the Gate spell. But that would be difficult without causing a huge scene. Tri'ade would need to find someplace in the city where he could gate in without being noticed.

Looking at the city in the mirror he didn't find any ideal places like a city park. It would probably be safer then to gate in outside the city. Even in an alleyway, there would be a danger of people looking outside of windows spotting him using [Gate] in the city. But going to the gates of the city without knowing the name of it would be odd.

Taking a moment to think about it Tri'ade realized he didn't need to go himself and there was another spell than Gate he could use. [Greater Teleportation] didn't have a range limitation and at most, it would generate some light when transporting an individual to the destination.

"Dear, bring me a pair of shadow demons. I need some proper scouting done."

Like before, Albedo went on her fetching assignment with a smile. Like all the NPC's, she was just happy to be of service to her Lord and Master. Even though there might be other things she would prefer to do to serve him.

She returned shortly with a pair of shadowy beings. These Shadow Demons had constant invisibility on at all time so their presence in the city shouldn't go noticed by the local inhabitants. Unless that is, they were encountered by a skilled enough adventurer who was expecting to find invisible enemies, which was highly unlikely.

"Your mission is simple. Find out what the name of this city is and find a woman named Tuareninya Veyron."

Tri'ade pointed to the location he brought upon the Mirror of Remote Viewing showing some buildings.

"The Mirror has located her somewhere in these buildings. Search them. The woman was also kidnapped from her family so find out anything you can about her captors while you're in there. Report back to me via message after you have searched the buildings thoroughly."

"Yes, Lord! You can count on us."

The emaciated figures of the Shadow Demons saluted him with their claws raised to their heads as they spoke. They slipped into Tri'ade's shadow he cast over them and he placed his hands on both of the Shadow Demons where he could see them while casting [Greater Teleportation]. Both of the shadow demons' figures were immersed in the light as the teleportation magic took effect.

A small light appeared on the mirror in the alleyway near the buildings depicted on its surface and shadows shifted moving as the light dissipated. It was a success. They were now in the city. All Tri'ade had to do now was wait for them to do their work.

Not that he would wait idly for their report. Now that he had gotten a hang of the Mirror of Remote Viewing search function Tri'ade wanted to test it out some more with other people in mind.

"Mirror of Remote Viewing, search Gazef Stronoff."

The view on the surface of the mirror moved slowly onto a large keep inside the city he was looking at. This keep had twenty towers arrayed along its walls with an interior curtain wall in-between them.

"So Gazef's here too. Let's check something. Mirror of Remote Viewing, search Sebas Tian."

The image moved onto the main thoroughfare of the city that the view hanged over. Tri'ade zoomed in to focus on the center target that the mirror's image was hanging over. He saw Sebas's distinctive grey hair and black suit.

Albedo leaned in to better look at the Mirror's surface.

"Sebas should still be in the city of Re-Estize."

Tri'ade could smell the sweet fragrance Albedo had and looked over to her hanging bosom that was now near his face.

"So he is."

Smiling seductively, Albedo whispered in his ear, "Do you want me to service you, Master?"

As that thought entered Tri'ade's mind, his gaze lowered to Albedo's hips but another thought interrupted it. With that thought, his gaze rose to her stomach which was as flat despite all the time they had spent together.

"Albedo. Have you noticed?"

Curiously Albedo looked down on her stomach.

"Noticed what, my love? Am I getting fat?!"

A worried look came over Albedo's face.

This elicited a chuckle from Tri'ade.

"On the contrary, you haven't changed a bit... You're not pregnant."

Moving to sit on her lover's lap Albedo turned to say to him, "Shall we change that? Master."

The softness of her butt hardened his member as it rubbed against her between their clothes.

"Might be more difficult than that, dear."

Albedo's eyes widened as her golden irises and vertically slit pupils dilated. Her seductive voice began to quiver along with her body.

"W-What a-are you saying? I-I'm going to have your child."

Tri'ade had never seen Albedo like this before. She was scared. Which caused him to be scared for her. It felt like the idea of not having his child would break her heart. Perhaps even her mind as well, given how much she loved Tri'ade. This led him to choose his words carefully as he explained himself.

"Yes, you are. However... procreation for succubi can be complicated. If a succubus easily got pregnant it would mean they would be so all the time."

Tri'ade hugged Albedo smelling her sweet aroma and holding her smooth softness in his arms. Her dark angelic wings brushing around his hips.

"Some angels are also infertile... I'll figure it out. Trust me."

The shaking stopped from Albedo. She placed her hand on his and looked at Tri'ade with wet eyes.

"Always."

In many myths and legends, both succubi and angels were infertile especially in early Christian mythology which YGGDRASIL partially drew from. But this is often contradicted in other mythology and game settings where succubi have half-demon children with humans.

Thinking about it, as a demon Tri'ade didn't need to eat, drink or even sleep. The bonuses to expand buffs food gave didn't apply to him. Demons in-game could do those things if they felt like it essentially because of the sins of gluttony and sloth.

They could eat as much as they wished for the taste of it and never gain a single pound of fat on their bodies. The same could be true for lust as it is for gluttony. Could she take as much semen as she could from a whole line of able men as a literal cum dumpster and never get pregnant?

Then there was the unique nature of Albedo to consider with her having both demonic and angelic racial classes. While whatever power transported Nazarick to this world might have given Albedo life it might not have given her the ability to conceive it. Tri'ade would need to discuss the matter with the summoned succubi or even interrogate an angel about how they reproduce.

Maybe some sort of ritual was needed or something to make Albedo pregnant. Not that he necessarily wanted a child himself but Tri'ade knew how important it was to her. Tri'ade liked seeing her happy.

Still close together, Tri'ade's hands loosened their embrace around Albedo's waist. His idle hands wanted to move towards her breasts and knead those glorious mounds. But he knew if he got Albedo going he probably would be fucking her afterward. He wanted to keep his head while the Shadow Demons did their work.

So he just enjoyed her warm soft body against his own for a while longer. It was a rare thing that he could simply enjoy her body pressed up against his. Sure they had plenty of sex but cuddling... well usually he would get to work if they didn't have another go at it.

Tri'ade kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "Let's stay like this for awhile."

"Tri'ade!"

Seeing Albedo blushing red and smiling warmed Tri'ade's heart. It was certainly a far better sight than the fear and despair that marked her face earlier. That relieved him. Thinking back on how he enjoyed looking at Ninya's mutilated body along with other disturbing things, Tri'ade was afraid he was becoming something of a sadist.

A raspy voice of a Shadow Demon entered his head as he brushed his hands through the wisps of Albedo's flowing black hair.

"Lord Tri'ade. This city is called Re-Estize. The buildings we searched were human dwellings save for one. It appears to be a hideout of sorts. Humans with weapons guard the first floor and the door leading from the alleyway is locked and made entirely out of steel."

 _"That's suspicious. Wasn't Tuare kidnapped by a noble? What in the world is she doing in that sort of place?"_

"We found no signs of human females on the first and second floors but there are two hidden doors leading to a lower floor. One is trapped."

Given that Ninya's sister Tuare was located in a place that sounded like a prison, it was clear she had a more troubled life than being a nobleman's mistress. Tri'ade shouldn't inform Ninya about this until after he learned more about her sister's current situation. Otherwise, she would probably insist on an immediate rescue.

"Continue monitoring the place. Eavesdrop on their conversations and find out who these people are. Don't go through the hidden doorways. If you get spotted retreat to Sebas's and Solution's house in the city."

Tri'ade gave a description of the location of the house and cut the message shortly after that. He suspected Tuare was beyond those hidden passageways but wanted to be cautious in dealing with whoever was holding her. They might have ties to the local nobility considering who took Tuare.

Gazef did invite him to his home. Tri'ade might have to take him up on that offer. It would also be interesting to get to know the King whose Kingdom hosts the Great Tomb of Nazarick within its borders. Tri'ade wanted to get a measure of what kind of man he was. After saving E-Rantel and the Warrior-Captain, no doubt the King Gazef served felt the same.

But all that could wait. He had waited long enough for the shadow demons to do their little reconnaissance. Tri'ade wanted satisfaction. His hands went up Albedo's white blouse and began kneading those large breasts of hers eliciting a moan of ecstasy from the hot succubus on his lap.

"My love! Ah!"

Tri'ade drew his head close to Albedo's ear and let go of her breasts.

"Let's continue this in the bedroom."

"Of course!"

Springing from Tri'ade's lap, Albedo got up and ran to the door to the bedroom. It was when Tri'ade was getting up that he noticed the stain on his robes. He wasn't the only one looking forward to this after all.

Tossing the stained robes aside revealing his bare form, he said, "Strip yourself and get on that bed! That's an order. I'm going to fuck you silly tonight."

"Yes! My Lord!

Albedo turned red and had a large grin on her face as she heard him say that. She immediately did as he commanded hurriedly undressing and lunging onto the bed. It was kind of embarrassing for Tri'ade to say that order but he wanted Albedo to forget about the prospect of her being infertile for a while. He didn't want to see that sad face of hers again.

 _Who knows, maybe more sex IS the answer to get Albedo pregnant._ As a demon, they both didn't need to sleep or drink. They could fuck till the end of the world if they wished. While his libido had increased since becoming a demon, work always kept him from indulging in her for too long. _Work can wait for now,_ he thought.

* * *

 _ **Royal Capital of Re-Estize**_

In the heart of the city, surrounded by a keep made from over twenty vast circular towers joined by curtain walls was the Royal Castle, Ro-Lente. Within its depths lay the Valencia Palace.

There was a room within the Palace that was more functional than decorative. Many nobles were gathered there.

The form of the Kingdom's Warrior-Captain, Gazef Stronoff, was visible in their midst. He was currently genuflecting before the master to whom he had sworn his life, the man who sat on the throne, King Ranpossa III.

As Gazef gave his report to his King of events in Carne Village, he thought of King Ranpossa's deteriorating health. The man had ruled the Re-Estize Kingdom for thirty-nine years and was an elderly man at this point. His majesty seemed even frailer than when he had set out upon his mission to save the villages of the Kingdom from the raiding Knights.

Normally, according to the traditions of Re-Estize, the King would abdicate the throne to a worthy heir. But the crown princes of the Kingdom were deemed unworthy of their father's throne by his Majesty's judgment. There were fears that Crown Princes Barbro and Zanac would simply become puppet kings to the increasingly powerful Great Nobles of the country.

This decision of King Ranpossa III to indefinitely postpone his retirement was not well received by the Noble Faction. These great nobles actively opposed many of his majesty's decisions and supported Prince Barbro, the eldest son's ascension to the throne. They were only checked by the King's most reliable of allies in the Royal Faction.

Gazef described in detail the events of what had happened after he left the Royal Capital and reached Carne Village. He paid close attention to describing the mysterious hero, Tri'ade Nazarick, who not only saved the village but took on the Sunlight Scripture. It was a truly heroic tale and the captive Theocracy soldiers Gazef brought with him was damning evidence against their neighbor.

King Ranpossa III stroked his grey beard as he listened to his Warrior-Captain's report.

"Truly a fantastic tale. To think he would risk so much to save the weak."

Several nobles from the exchanged patronizing gossip about Tri'ade Nazarick as the King muttered those words of praise.

"A problematic individual."

"A deviant who did not dare reveal his face to the world."

"A magic caster with a strange name."

In the end, they even brought up the idea that he might have been a part of an effort on behalf of the Baharuth Empire to frame the Slane Theocracy for the attacks. After all, Gazef had only managed to capture soldiers dressed as Imperial Knights, not anyone from the Theocracy's Scripture unit.

These men were from the Noble Faction. Many of whom had argued against Gazef taking possession of the Kingdom's Five Treasures such as the Guardian Armor before embarking upon his mission. He suspected they might have been a part of the Theocracy's plot to have him killed that resulted in the massacre of entire villages.

Gazef could barely contain his anger at these thinly veiled traitors to the Kingdom. But he bit his tongue from speaking out against them. As a common warrior, he had little skill in rhetoric and wordplay in which nobles excelled at. His clumsy attempts at besting them in that field were low so he had to avoid embarrassing his majesty by misspeaking.

There was one man in particular that he looked at while thinking of this. Marquis Raeven, one of the Six Great Nobles whose loyalties seemed to sway between the Noble and Royal factions, whichever seemed to benefit him the most at a given time. He was a blond haired, blue eyed man with a slim build and a pale complexion which made him look like a venomous snake.

Marquis Raeven smiled when turning to King Ramposa III.

"Indeed, your grace. This man appears to be quite the hero. I've heard he has even saved E-Rantel from an army of undead mere weeks after becoming an adventurer."

The Marquis's remarks caused murmurs among the nobles in attendance. Looking back directly at Gazef Stronoff the man continued, "And killed Brain Ungluas in single combat for his crimes of banditry."

The patronizing gossip of the nobles turned on Brain Ungluas and Gazef now rather than Tri'ade. Brain was a commoner like Gazef and came in second in the Royal Tournament. Where Gazef accepted the offer of employment with the King, Brain did not accept it from the nobles who offered it to him. The parallels were obvious to draw from.

"The moment you arm the common people, they turn on you without proper guidance."

"Gazef is fortunate to have received the King's generosity and wisdom then."

"I heard that wretch was attacking merchants on the King's road."

"His men didn't even fight the Knights. Killing those bandits would have been easy work."

The nobility had always hated him for being a commoner and jealous of the favor his strength earned him from his majesty. But Gazef was relieved that his savior was no longer being slandered. He had felt profoundly useless in being unable to defend him from the wicked barbs of the nobles here. Even if that meant the slander was redirected his way.

The old man of a King spoke weakly, "Umu, I have received some reports supporting what you say, Marquis. But let us conclude the Warrior-Captain's report. There are other important matters to decide."

With that, the gossiping nobles were silenced at least temporarily while Gazef Stronoff returned to his King's side.

"Then, if tradition holds, we ought to be going to war with the Empire in several month's time. Let us discuss how we will address this matter. Marquis Raeven, explain to everyone."

"Understood, your Majesty."

Being one of the most powerful Great Nobles with ties with both factions the King often relied upon Marquis Raeven like this to have things proceed smoothly. No noble in the room, after all, wanted to get on Marquis Raeven's bad side after all.

This gave the man unrivaled authority save for the King himself in these meetings. As the Marquis laid out his plans for the annual war with the Empire, none of the other nobles raised an objection. All agreed to the number of men they would supply for the onset of the war and other logistical needs. When he was finished, he smiled haughtily and bowed to the King.

After which the King opened up discussion on the matter of the annual war with the Baharuth Empire. What came was a sea of the commotion of nobles posturing with one another, citing the need to take the fight to the Empire for once. Boasting that the Kingdom could defeat the Empire once and for all with their might.

Gazef internally groaned at the stupidity of the nobles who spouted such nonsense. Anyone of them with a brain could tell the annual wars the Baharuth Empire conducted on the Kingdom had never been intended for the conquest of new territory.

To date, the Empire had never committed more than three of its legions to fight in these annual wars and no decisive battles were fought in the Katze Plains bordering the two nations. Instead, year after year, the Kingdom had to raise its army via peasant conscripts during the middle of the harvest season to fight skirmishes with Imperial Knights.

It was obvious that the true intention of the Empire was to whittle down the Kingdom's fighting strength by undermining its food supply. The Empire with its professional soldiers didn't need to conscript its people as peasant levies. As a result, only the Kingdom was truly hurt economically by the annual conflict between them.

The Kingdom tried to make a professional army of its own to combat the problem but the nobles stopped any efforts to do so by the King. After all, the King having a professional army would undermine the nobles' authority and the taxes required to maintain that the army would need to come from the nobles themselves. The nobility in the Kingdom had long enjoyed being exempt from taxation, a privilege they would say they earned by supplying the King with troops in time of war.

Nobles from the Noble faction didn't see the danger of the Empire in the same light as the Royal Faction did. Their territories were far from the border and they delighted in seeing the Royal Faction's declining power due to the annual wars.

Just as when Gazef was lamenting the stupidity and naivety of the Noble Faction, the assembled nobles turned the conversation back onto his savior, Tri'ade Nazarick.

"If that's the case, could it be that the suspicious magic caster who aided the Warrior-Captain is a man from the Empire? Perhaps he intends to infiltrate us as a spy."

"Ah, I see. You're right. They say the Empire has an academy which trains magic casters, so that's very likely."

"Perhaps we should consider capturing him alive. Frankly speaking, the real problem is the Adventurer's Guild. With their alleged neutrality, they do as they please with no regard to us! They charge us ridiculous sums for the elimination of monsters and refuse to pay us proper respect. We should make them subordinate to us."

"The best solution would be to bring him back here."

Gazef could no longer remain silent after hearing this. There was no way he could allow them to continue bad mouthing the person who had saved himself, his subordinates, and the villagers.

"A moment, if you please. To begin with, that magic caster is well-disposed toward the Kingdom; it would not be a wise decision to try and capture someone like—"

Many of the nobles merely looked at Gazef with disgust at him speaking out of turn. They could never get past his low birth and the fact he had achieved his position by merit rather than inheritance. Envious of his position with the king and his skill with the sword, Gazef was a subject of much slander by these same nobles.

Several nobles continued criticizing Tri'ade Nazarick without waiting for Gazef to finish, and others joined in as well. That is until Marquis Raeven spoke up and every one of them allowed the man to speak.

"Gentlemen. I share your concerns. The sudden appearance of this mysteriously powerful magic caster is quite suspicious indeed. It is quite possible that this man could be a spy from an enemy nation sent to undermine us. This Tri'ade Nazarick should be brought to the Capital as it has been suggested to answer to us."

But the man's actions have already won the hearts of many in E-Rantel and beyond. The common people speak of him as a hero, the man who saved them from an Army of Undead and others are thankful of the royal roads becoming safer to travel on because of him.

If we attempt to capture him and force him in chains to the capital it would cause no small degree of unrest and provoke a confrontation with the Adventurer's Guild. Not to mention it would eliminate the possibility of gaining the services of such a powerful individual in the future should he not be a spy as it has been suggested."

Upon his throne, the King spoke with a reserved tone, "What then do you suggest to be done, Marquis?"

"I suggest your majesty hold a royal banquet and invite this Tri'ade Nazarick to it. It would give us the opportunity to uncover some of the mystery behind this individual by meeting with him."

Murmurs of disapproval came from the assembled nobles. Holding a banquet for the sole purpose of inviting an adventurer to it? It was unprecedented. Despite what adventurers regularly do in the Kingdom saving people and nobles from monsters they were often marginalized in noble society due to being an independent fighting force not controlled by the nobility.

However, few of them dared to voice their complaints openly with Marquis Raeven suggesting it. King Ramposa III surveyed the room of his subjects before he spoke, "An interesting suggestion, Marquis Raeven. Does anyone have any objections? No? Then it is decided. A feast will be held in one month's time to celebrate the security of my royal subjects. As defenders of the Kingdom, everyone here is invited to attend as well."

The nobles did not retort. Though there were some grumbling at this upstart adventurer being counted among them, they all agreed with the Marquis that it would be better to get to know this mysterious hero. Many of those in the Royal Faction vocally voiced their agreement with his majesty.

It was a suitable compromise. The feast after all was not going to be held to honor this magic caster adventurer specifically but defenders of the kingdom as a whole. A few of them boisterously stated they would achieve some feat of prowess in the defense of his majesty's subjects before the month ended.

With this matter settled the meeting between the King and his subjects continued for nearly an hour afterward discussing various other matters important to the Kingdom. This time was mostly full of power plays and flattery among the nobles When it all ended, Gazef was glad of it and thought about meeting the man who saved him once more.

* * *

 **Afterword:**

This chapter's gotta be the one I have revised the most over the course of writing it. In fact, originally I didn't plan on having Tri'ade appear at all in chapter 13. I wanted to focus more on side characters in the Kingdom and such. I want to eventually write a scene or two depicting how Peter and his friends have grown as adventurers since joining Tri'ade and all but felt it might have been a bit too early for that.

I do have a plan regarding Albedo's pregnancy, but it felt rushed to answer the question of it as soon as it came up. The scene with Tri'ade and Albedo in this chapter was running long anyways. Regarding the stance of Albedo having angel racial classes, I derive that from this line in her settings, "She was originally planned to be an angel of the highest order, but she ended up with a greatly distorted appearance after being fused with a monster from the land of dreams."

Aka Seraphim and Succubus racial classes. Probably some lesser angel classes along with it in her build. Among the Guardians, Albedo does have the most unknown about her full build. Only about 30 of her levels are defined with the rest either being unknown or known as racial/job classes.

For those that don't know, Succubi and Angels in myth aren't known for having babies. With both of them in their own way being unable to bear offspring. Angels in many depictions don't have sexual organs at all. While Succubi merely store sperm then turn into Incubi to impregnate human women with it. Though that is merely talking about the western mythic tradition which the angels of Yggdrasil seem to derive from with its hierarchy of the angels.

Granted that isn't true in all depictions. n modern times, there are half demons and half-celestial offspring everywhere. Demons and Angels became more human as time progressed after all. This is even true for older works of fiction where John Milton gave the Devil himself a kick-ass origin story and made him a beautiful fallen angel rather than a grotesque beast.

Hopefully, the next chapters won't take as long to write but at least I fulfilled my promise to release another chapter before the end of the month. Enjoy the next episode of Overlord airing in the meantime :P I know I will.

Edited: Nov 15 2018 for new formatting and spelling mistakes.

Additional Proofreading: January 14, 2019 by PervySageChuck


	16. Volume 3: Intermission: Incursion

_**Volume 3: Intermission: Incursion**_

 _ **Great Tomb of Nazarick-5th Floor**_

Within Nigredo's lair on the 5th floor of Nazarick, Tri'ade and Albedo were together once again. A Crystal Monitor showed the sealing crystal they were tracking within some manner of elaborate vault alongside other crystals beside it. The room reminded himself a bit of Nazarick's own treasury room but on a smaller scale with the mountains of gold coins removed.

"So this is where the Theocracy stores all the artifacts they've inherited from the Six Great Gods."

"Yes, Lord Tri'ade."

"What level of defenses against divination did you encounter?"

"Anti-scrying spells up to around the eighth tier were in place. Nothing I couldn't handle. No anti-divination wards were activated when the sealing crystal entered the vault."

"Is that all?"

That level of scrying defense was a bit disappointing. It suggested that the divination caster responsible for the defenses was around level seventy or eighty. Though given the unique ritual magic the Theocracy was capable of, it might be possible one of their Miko's was responsible for it rather than their Gods.

"There appears to be a doorway leading further into the vault."

Tri'ade looked at the doorway which appeared to be covered in runes and holy symbols. Perhaps like Nazarick's treasury the more valuable artifacts would be stored deeper in the vault. Along with a corresponding increase in defenses.

Nigredo was good to be cautious and report her findings now. If she had tripped the defenses by going too far into the vault it might tip the Theocracy off about them being spied upon and increase their divination defenses elsewhere in the country. The less the Theocracy knew of their true capabilities, the better.

"I see. Who is guarding the vault?"

The crystal monitor shifted its view to a place outside of the vault. It appeared to be a large underground room lit by magical lanterns. The walls themselves were not crude cavern walls like he had seen in the bandit hideout but carved stonework with the roof of the place supported by granite columns.

In this place stood a single person guarding the vault door. A young woman with strange, black and white hair carrying a large spear-like scythe. The scythe itself looked more like a spear with two scythe blades attached to the sides of it. This scythe leaned against the wall next to the girl as she played with what looked to be a Rubik's cube. Upon closer inspection, she seemed to have mismatched eyes like Aura and Mare did.

"You'd think they would have more guards. Is this all there is?"

Nigredo nodded, her long black hair bouncing as she did so. "Yes. There are a few armored knights further down the passageway leading to the vault but she is the only one present at the door to the vault."

Considering the strange girl guarding the door for a moment, he remembered something Clementine had told him during his questioning of her. Of an "ancient beast" beyond the realm of humanity and whose existence was only known to the Black Scripture as well as the ruling Cardinals of the Theocracy. Whose scythe means instant death to all of humanity's enemies.

Tri'ade's jaw dropped as he remembered the rest of Clementine's description of the Extra Seat of the Black Scripture. _This young girl is the trump card of the Slane Theocracy?!_

"What is it, my love?"

Pointing to the girl on the crystal monitor he stated, "She is the one Clementine told me about, the strongest member of the Black Scripture."

Albedo glared at the image of Zesshi Zetsumei.

"That human? She looks weak."

"Looks can be deceiving. Nigredo can you look at her health?"

"Yes, my lord."

Raising her hand up to the Crystal Monitor Nigredo cast the spell.

[Life Essence]

"Surprising. She has a rather large aura of health."

"How large?"

"Not as large as my dear sister but similar in size to your own, Lord Tri'ade."

"That is surprising."

It didn't tell Tri'ade the whole picture though. As a jack of all trades character leaning towards magic, he only had a slight edge against pure magic casters in HP. As for Albedo, it would be concerning if this Zesshi had more HP than her considering her build was focused on taking damage.

"Check her mana now. Tell me what you see."

Following her Lord's command, Nigredo raised her hand once again towards the Crystal Monitor.

"[Mana Essence]"

"Small. She has a small aura of mana surrounding her."

"Smaller than Albedo's?"

"Yes."

This would be so much simpler in-game. Life and Mana essence would show solid figures for mana and HP but in this world, they appeared as an aura. The bigger the aura the larger the hp or mana reserve. So more guesswork had to be involved to determine someone's precise strength. That is only if they weren't being deceived. There were various spells that made essence spells display misinformation and were often used in YGGDRASIL in PVP duels.

What Nigredo told him suggested a specialized warrior build. Perhaps somewhere in the range of 70-90 depending on the classes taken. Though he couldn't be certain. Aura, a level 100 character from what he had seen of her stats, had around the same HP and mana values but with her beastmaster special abilities and her other special stats like agility she made up for it.

This Zesshi Zetsumei certainly was the strongest opponent he had yet seen in the New World. Unlike anyone else in the New World save the NPCs of Nazarick, this little girl could actually give him a serious fight. Alone that is. With the Floor Guardians at his side, he was sure he could mop the floor with her in an instant.

Still...against her alone, it would be an interesting fight. He hadn't had one of those since coming to this New World from Yggdrasil. Tri'ade might even break a sweat facing off against her. No one he had fought could even inflict a single point of damage against him. Zesshi could.

No. No matter how tempting that might be, it would be mad to teleport right into the heart of the Theocracy for a duel. There would be too much interference from other people and if they managed to prevent teleportation out of the tunnels he would be trapped.

Upon the crystal monitor, Tri'ade saw Zesshi do a long sigh as she fiddled around with her Rubik's Cube. She had a look of profound boredom on her face as she stood guard. He couldn't help but laugh as he realized it..

"Hahaha!"

Both Albedo and Nigredo looked at him in surprise at his sudden laughter.

"What is it?"

"Look at her! The strongest weapon in the Slane's arsenal is on guard duty! She's bored!"

Both Albedo and her sister Nigredo just stared in confusion. Of course, they wouldn't understand. They were NPCs. If a Supreme Being ordered it they would stand in a corner looking at a wall till the end of time gladly. But Zesshi is not an NPC. She is a human being. No, a super-human being, a being commanded by lesser humans and forced to idly stand around in a dark vault all day.

Power begs to be used. Any nation with a vastly superior military force is keen to think any problem can be solved using it. The same is true for people. It is at the root of the saying: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Tri'ade had only been in this world for a few months and the prospect of facing off against a worthy opponent had for a moment tempted him to rush to battle. Zesshi probably lived in this world her entire life. Granted he did not know how much of that time was spent having superhuman strength and being unable to use it. But he knew it was much, much longer than he had.

And she was being sheltered. Isolated by the Theocracy that was holding her in reserve as a secret trump card for humanity. The opportunities to even use her power against lesser opponents had to be few and far between. The girl has to be craving an opportunity to use it. To unleash her full power on someone.

Tri'ade began to pace back and forth thinking of a plan. He could use this. If he was right, he definitely could use this against the Theocracy.

Albedo had never seen Tri'ade like this. She had never seen him do this before. So she and Nigredo stared on in bewilderment.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, quite the opposite!"

Tri'ade pulled out a Necklace of Lesser Undead Control and the Staff of Shadows, both items he had looted from Khajhit's corpse. He put the necklace around his neck and gripped the staff firmly in his hand. In his red robes while they were embroidered with golden flames he looked more like that cliche necromancer.

There was one last thing to consider. His face. With that in mind, he pulled out one last magic item to equip. It was a red mask that looked like Barong mask with its wide toothy grin and blue colored eyes. It was the Mask of Envy. It was a giveaway item the Yggdrasil Developers gave to players who logged in on Christmas Eve long enough.

The mask itself was fairly useless as it couldn't be further customized or imbued with data crystals to strengthen it. It was merely a fairly unremarkable mask save for the appearance it gave a player's avatar. Tri'ade put it on and presented himself to the two ladies near him.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful as always, my love. But if I may ask, why did you equip that junk?"

"Well, I can't have Zesshi be able to identify me when I go to see her."

"What?!"

"That's dangerous. Let me go with you, my love. We'll face her together!"

"Haha, well I won't really be there. So you have nothing to worry about."

Looking back to Nigredo, Tri'ade gave her new orders, "Pan out the crystal monitor's view of the room and make it a top-down, please. I need to encompass the entire room."

Nigredo waved her hands about, moving the image on the Crystal Monitor's screen to the desired position.

"It is done, Lord Tri'ade."

"I can project myself into the room. I will be unable to directly interact with anything but I can...indirectly interact with Zesshi. With summoned undead, I can test the strength of their strongest champion."

The sisters looked at each other.

"You can do that?"

"Yes. With the spell [Project Image]. The magic requires me to have a line of sight on the area. However, thanks to Nigredo, that will not be an issue."

Tri'ade couldn't tell if, behind her near raven black hair, Nigredo was smiling. She was created to be of service to the Supreme Beings and spying on the Theocracy was satisfying the prospect of directly aiding her master, which greatly excited her. Her master raised his hand up to the crystal monitor that she had maintained with her own magic.

"I won't be able to see or hear you as I maintain the spell. Take care of my body until I return."

Albedo hugged Tri'ade's other arm pressing herself against her master.

"It'll be my pleasure."

* * *

 _ **Slane Theocracy-Deep Underneath the Capital.**_

The world turned black for a moment when his perspective shifted from looking at the crystal monitor to being in the underground chamber outside the vault entrance. Tri'ade could hear the sound of metal scraping against stone as Zesshi gripped her weapon.

Tri'ade didn't see it because his illusionary double had it's back turned to her. Quickly he turned around to see the young bi-colored girl. She had her weapon in hand ready to fight. It was an inauspicious start to their first meeting.

"Now who might you be?"

Zesshi seemed curious at his sudden appearance. Which she should be considering he was underneath the Theocracy's capital in its secret underground catacombs. Tri'ade was happy she didn't try to attack him without asking questions.

"Lazarus... you may call me Lazarus. No need to introduce yourself. I know who you are, Zesshi Zetsumei."

"Really? I don't get many visitors here. How did you get in?"

Folding his arms together, Tri'ade simply stated, "Magic."

Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized Tri'ade. Zesshi's face had a look of disappointment stretched across it.

"You are not really here."

Zesshi saw through Tri'ade's illusion and recognized it for what it was. He smiled at that. The guardian of the six gods' treasury had a keen sight to see through it, but he expected nothing less. It didn't matter since he wasn't using this illusion to hide. The disappointment then was due to the desire Zesshi had to fight. As Tri'ade suspected before he came here the bored little godling was eager for a challenge.

"True. Don't worry. I still hold power here."

Raising his hand, he cast the spell [Create Middle Tier Undead]. A Death Knight rose from formless shadows on the ground. It roared and Tri'ade could only hope other guards in the complex didn't hear it. Pointing over to Zesshi he gave the Death Knight it's orders.

"Death Knight, attack!"

The skeletal dark knight barreled towards Zesshi with its large curved blade streaking through the air. However, Zesshi nimbly dodged the incoming attack by stepping to the side. Tri'ade could swear he saw a smile from on her face as Zesshi dropped the Rubik's Cube to grip her scythe with both hands.

She jumped forward with great speed and slashed at the torso of the Death Knight with her cross-shaped scythe. Zesshi had moved so swiftly it had little time to put its tower shield up to block the counter-attack. As a result, the Death Knight that charged at her was sent flying backward into the wall of the underground chamber.

The Death Knight impacted with such force it was buried a few inches into the wall and the room itself shook. Staggering to its feet, the Death Knight dislodged itself from the wall of the chamber. It was evident to Tri'ade that it had suffered serious damage. Many of the Death Knight's ribs appeared to be cracked and some broken away entirely.

However, still bound by its command to attack, the Death Knight charged again at Zesshi. This time she struck low at the feet while sliding on the ground like a baseball player going for home base. The edge of her scythe blades severed the feet of the Death Knight forcing it to fall to the ground. This time for good. The hulking body of the skeletal horror began to dissipate into a formless black mist.

The sound of clapping could be heard reverberating off the stone walls of the underground chamber. Tri'ade was clapping while holding the Staff of Darkness upright by leaning it against his shoulder.

"Impressive. Ready for round two?"

Dusting herself off, Zesshi stood up and eyed up Tri'ade, trying to gauge him. Of what Tri'ade didn't know. Strength possibly but Zesshi had a predatory look in her eyes.

"Just who are you really? I never heard of you Lazarus."

"Power doesn't equal fame. If it did, you wouldn't be here."

"You are a strange man."

Tri'ade put his left hand on his hip as he stared at Zesshi. He had hoped she would be eager to fight rather than asking questions. He hadn't come prepared to answer questions.

"You are a strange woman."

Zesshi shifted her hips and leaned upon her scythe.

"Am I?"

"All your strength and what do you do with it? Stand around doing nothing. Most people would become a hero or something."

"Most people are idiots."

Zesshi's remark elicited a chuckle out of Tri'ade. Such a cynic. Part of him imagined Zesshi in a gothic costume with plenty of eyeliner.

The sound of heavy footsteps and clattering of armor could be heard echoing down into the chamber. It seemed the other guardians of these underground tunnels heard the sounds of fighting. Turning around Tri'ade could see a pair of knights in heavy and finely wrought full plate enter into the chamber from the tunnel opposite of Zesshi to his rear.

"Speak of the devil, the idiots are here."

The Slane Knights were short of breath from rushing over. They assumed a battle stance upon looking at Tri'ade.

"Lady Zesshi, we heard fighting!"

"Who are you?!'

Tri'ade reminded himself he didn't have time to bother with these knights and talking to Zesshi. He could only maintain this illusion of himself here for so long.

"Your death."

[Dark Miasma]

After casting the spell, a cloud of dark smoke enveloped the two knights. and the entryway into the chamber. The two knights in full plate collapsed to the ground, their armor loudly clattering on the cold stone floor. The dark smoke lingered in the area as a deadly cloud of gas.

[Dark Miasma] was a Tier Five area effect spell which produced a fog of pure negative energy which had numerous effects including a chance of instant death. If it didn't kill you, it also had a chance of reducing a player's strength and constitution.

Tri'ade turned to face Zesshi with his back once again to the entryway and the corpses of the two slain knights.

"Now, let's proceed."

[Create High Tier Undead]

Out of his fingertips spewed out a pale mist material of negative energy. It swirled around him to go behind Tri'ade. Turning around he saw the mist go through the Dark Miasma and enter one of the Slane Knights he had just killed. The body stayed inert on the ground but a ghostly knight rose from up the corpse. Underneath it, a translucent ghost of a warhorse rose from the ground with the ghostly knight on its back.

It was a Pale Rider. A level seventy incorporeal undead. The rider brandished a cavalry lance crouched at the ready at his side. The rider was covered in full plate through the make or color of it was unknown the ghostly pale light radiating forth made such distinctions impossible. Around it was an ominous aura of white mist much like had come out of Tri'ade's hand when summoning it.

"Charge!"

Tri'ade raised his arm straight up and then motioned it down as he gave the command to the Pale Rider. The rider flew forward with lance raised to strike Zesshi. She jumped to the side to get out of the way of the lance which vanished from the Pale Rider's hand and a longsword appeared in a puff of white mist in the other.

The Pale Rider did a downward slash as he rode past Zesshi. Not expecting the blow when she went to block it with her scythe. The rider's longsword slid down the shaft and it nicked at her hands holding her weapon, drawing first blood.

Zesshi instantly countered, doing a whirlwind attack with her scythe cutting through the rear of the Pale Rider mount. Screaming in pain the mount continued to rush into the wall of the chamber carrying its rider along with it.

Rather than the violent impact into the chamber wall as one would expect the Pale Rider rode right through it. One could still hear the horseshoes clashing on the ground as the incorporeal rider and his steed rode through the earth surrounding them.

A special characteristic of the Pale Rider was that it was immaterial. Meaning it could ride through any obstacle in the terrain it faced and could even fly into the air to pursue its foes. Unlike Wraiths, the Pale Rider could walk through any wall or barrier regardless of how thick. It was one of the ways the shitty devs resolved the pathfinding mechanics for the mounted summons one got at higher tiers.

Earlier in Yggdrasil's development, many mounted summons had abilities like the Pale Rider to either pass through solid objects or have innate teleportation abilities. This was fixed in later patches and expansions for some mounted summons but not for the Pale Rider. The feature was too integral to its design in the game lore behind the monster.

Darting her head around, Zesshi was looking for the Pale Rider as it circled around for another attack. Her eyes did not linger on Tri'ade, which he found amusing.

 _She doesn't expect me to attack her myself._

Coming at her flank the Pale Rider appeared once again coming from the wall of the chamber. This time the tip of his lance was radiating with the dark power of negative energy. His steed was in a frenzied state with eyes glowing blood red and galloping at a frantic pace towards Zesshi.

[Avenging Charge!]

It was one of the Pale Rider's special skills that it could use a few times per day. It boosted the speed, physical attack power, and enchanted the pale rider's weapon with negative energy to drain the constitution of anything it hit. His summon definitely wanted to land a blow with its lance if it was already using one of its limited use skills so early in the battle.

Calvary Lances were in-game thanks to a few special events like the Knightly Tournament of Magrev but no one seriously used them. Even when people did use lances they were shorter versions that were basically spears like Shalltear's Spuit Lance. They even had similar attack animations to spear weapons.

While they were capable of dishing out large amounts of damage, they were cumbersome and only really useful on horseback. The only cavalry lances in-game for the longest time were the knightly tournament lances which were unenchanted and had no data storage capacity so you couldn't modify them. Couple this with the long attack animation and people killing your mount, long lances like that were a novelty item for the most part.

In Yggdrasil, after a Pale Rider made its charge they typically just slashed at the enemy using their longsword from atop their mount rather than circling around the enemy to go for another charge. This change in his summon's typical behavior surprised Tri'ade but he reminded himself he still had much to learn regarding how magic operated in this world.

[Impenetrable Fortress]

Reacting to the furious charge of the Pale Rider, Zesshi used one of her martial art skills to block the momentum of the charge and went on a counter attack. Tri'ade could see a smile on the girl's face as she faced the Pale Rider in combat.

[Fatal Edge!]

After slashing the Pale Rider's mount once again, it screamed in pain. The lance disappeared from the rider's hand and a large flail appeared with three spiked balls with acid oozing from the tips. Spinning them around in the air the rider slung them down upon Zesshi with blinding speed.

Managing to block one spiked ball, she missed the other two as they hit the side of her abdomen. It was Zesshi's turn to feel pain. Tri'ade could hear a stifled moan of pain as Zesshi jumped back.

The Pale Rider rode his steed back into the wall of the chamber once more. Pursuing her quarry she attacked once more but her scythe struck the stone wall rather than her enemy. Having failed in her counter-attack Zesshi moved to the center of the chamber to avoid another surprise attack by the Pale Rider.

When the Pale Rider once again sallied forth against Zesshi, she was ready for it. She slashed with her scythe, cutting the Pale Rider's mount one final time. The mount was decapitated and it fell forward launching the rider off of it. The Pale Rider quickly rolled to its feet facing Zesshi.

The battle had turned. The Pale Rider could no longer outrun his opponent and escape into the relative safety of the stonework around him. No longer did the rider have the element of surprise to his charging attacks. Zesshi had planned this from the moment she saw the rider phase through the wall. It was why she aimed for the Rider's steed throughout the fight.

The ghostly Pale Rider and Zesshi clashed blades once more but it was clear to Tri'ade who held the advantage now. While the Rider got in a few more hits, Zesshi was clearly faster and had a longer reach with her War Scythe. The rider had a harder time getting in close to hit her.

Tri'ade's summon tried another feint by switching between its flail and longsword. But Zesshi had learned from the first time the Pale Rider had used this to strike her and maintained a distance from her opponent which allowed her to dodge the flail when it appeared.

This didn't surprise Tri'ade. He had never seen a Pale Rider fighting dismounted before. Back in Yggdrasil, both the Pale Rider and its mount shared a health pool. Part of the reason the Pale Rider was a level seventy mob was the bonus abilities and large health pool it had as a mounted monster.

Fighting continued a while longer until Zesshi fell back towards the vault entrance away creating some distance between her and her opponent.

[Greater Ability Boost!]

Zesshi then glowed with a bright light and jumped with incredible speed towards the Pale Rider getting in close while dodging his attacks.

[Obliterate!]

Swinging her Scythe in a wide arch the blade itself moved like lighting as it slashed the incorporeal body of the Pale Rider. The ferocity of the blow blew away the mist-like form of the ghostly rider as if it had never existed in the first place. Tri'ade could feel the link between him and his summon being forcefully cut as the Pale Rider was obliterated by Zesshi's blow.

It was evident to Tri'ade that Zesshi must be at least a good ten levels above the Pale Rider. He had a feeling she wasn't using the full extent of her abilities, but that didn't surprise him given the stone chambers they fought in. If they had destroyed the stone pillars in the room and damaged the roof of the chamber the whole place would come crashing down. Mentally he took a note of that for the next time.

Seeing dark smoke whisking past him as a rush of fresh air blew into the chamber, he turned to look behind him. The hallway leading to the vault's entrance was now clear of the Dark Miasma he had laid down. Tri'ade could hear the footsteps of more people rushing down the hallway reverberating across the stone floors.

Whoever had dispelled his Dark Miasma must be a relatively powerful magic user for this world. It might be also possible for them to dispel his [Project Image] illusion magic. Knowing his time was short he decided to end this before it was ended for him.

"Looks like playtime is over. We'll continue this later."

"No! Wait!"

Zesshi rushed Tri'ade but it was too late, he ended the [Project Image] spell and Tri'ade's visage vanished before Zesshi. Tri'ade's vision and other senses shifted back to his body back in the Great Tomb of Nazarick staring at the Crystal Monitor that Nigredo was projecting.

Albedo and Nigredo could tell their master's consciousness was back with them. The life returned to his eyes when the spell ended. They no longer looked lifeless with a glazed look over them. The sisters had witnessed everything that had transpired with Zesshi and how she fought their master's summoned monsters.

As the sense of touch returned to his original body he could feel something soft. Turning to look at what it was, he saw Albedo was still hugging his left arm. Albedo gave him a warm smile.

"Welcome back."

Returning the smile he said, "Good to be back."

Turning to look back to the Crystal Monitor Tri'ade could see Zesshi arguing with her quote rescuers who had arrived to help her. There were two men she was shouting at. One was a young man in armor with long brown hair. His armor was ornate and wielded a simple looking spear. This man was obviously the leader as he took the lead and was flanked by two other impressive looking individuals. One with black hair with a black tattoo around his right eye wielding chains and the other, who looked very much like Clementine.

Tri'ade didn't know who they were but the one that looked like Clementine must be her brother Quinta. That must mean this was the Black Scripture or at least part of it that came to Zesshi's defense. Tri'ade couldn't hear Zesshi since the Crystal Monitor only displayed images. But he could guess that she was upset with them for cutting her fight with him short. His smile turned wicked as he thought of the possibilities.

"Look at her."

Nigredo beside him remarked, "She's strong... for a human."

"Thick-headed too," Tri'ade replied to Nigredo's observation. Looking at Albedo still clinging at his side, he added, "Given time I think we can get her to abandon her duty."

"So that's why you were so excited. What now?"

"Let her stew. We can bait her by leaking information about Lazarus later."

* * *

 _ **Baharuth Empire-Arwintar**_

The Imperial Capital city, Arwintar, was a good way west in the Baharuth Empire's territory. This city was a symbol of the Empire's affluence and development. Every road was paved and every building was made out of either stone or brickwork. It was the result of Emperor Jircniv's efforts to reform the Empire into a powerful centralized state away from the feudal system which the Re-Estize Kingdom ran upon.

It was a city full of life and activity with people moving about their business on the roads and in the open markets. Few took notice of a cloaked woman moving about among them. Most preferred to go about their business rather than take notice of someone in the crowd.

The cloaked woman moved away from the main thoroughfare of the city and into an even more affluent section of the city consisting mostly of large manors. These were the homes of the extremely wealthy among the few nobles that had proven too useful to the so-called bloody Emperor to be eliminated in his purges.

All of these manors were gated homes with large fences around them sectioning them off from the rest of the neighborhood. One of these homes that was the one which the woman walked to had guards stationed at the gateway into the Manor. These guards barred the woman from entering the Manor of their lord.

"Let me in. I need to see the Count."

The two guards looked at each other and at the woman before responding.

"The Count is not expecting visitors today. Who are you?"

The woman removed her hood revealing her short blond hair and delicate features giving her a cat-like appearance.

"Tell that old man that Lady Clementine is here to see him. Hurry before I have you killed for wasting my time!"

Her informal manners towards their lordship irritated the guards but her pompous attitude convinced them not to cross Clementine fearing she might be a noblewoman. One of the guards stumbled back in response to the death threat from the "Lady" Clementine.

"I will inform him of your arrival."

With one of the guards going into the manor, the other glared at Clementine while they both waited. Normally Clementine would have no issue just killing the guards and slinking in at night but her new master forbade her from killing.

She wanted to slit the guard's throat or anyone's for that matter. Clementine hadn't killed anyone since E-Rantel. Since becoming enslaved to Tri'ade's will. It was infuriatingly annoying. Every time she drew her stilettos on the way to Arwintar to have some fun, the words of her new Master echoed in her head and she felt her limbs move on their own.

 _["You will not kill anyone. You will not attack unless attacked first."]_

It reminded her how powerless she was. Regardless of the distance she had gained between Tri'ade and herself, the link remained strong. The spell was still in effect despite the weeks of travel Clementine had endured on her way to the Imperial Capital where her Master had sent her on her mission.

The guard returned and escorted Clementine into the Manor. It was owned by Count Siegfried, a lesser noble in the service of the Baharuth Empire. One that had survived the various purges over the years by the Bloody Emperor. It was a richly built house filled with ornate decorations as befitting a man of the Count's wealth.

Going up the stairs, Clementine was led to Count Siegfried's private study. The Count was a finely dressed older gentleman with short ashen hair and a long, neatly trimmed mustache. When she entered the room the Count stood up from his chair and gestured to the guard to leave the room.

"Leave us."

When the guard left, they both stared in a tense silence. Clementine enjoyed seeing the anger in the Count's eyes directed at her. The silence only served to stoke Count Siegfried's anger and he began to yell.

"What in the Four Gods are you doing here?! How careless can you be?!"

Count Siegfried was a member of Zuranon, the same as Clementine. The group had used the Count to inform them of news within the Imperial Capital and his business interests helped launder money Zuranon had acquired through its various connections.

With so many noble families being purged, it was natural that some in the Baharuth Empire developed a fascination with death. They joined Zuranon to study the necromantic arts and some even hoped to achieve a form of immortality like Khajiit.

Other nobles simply found the affiliation useful to arrange a rival's death. After all, Zuranon didn't consist entirely of necromancers. Like Clementine, many murderers and criminals were a part of the group. While Zuranon did not have skilled assassins like Ijaniya, you didn't need fancy tricks to kill someone. A blade and an opportunity were enough for most jobs.

Clementine heard of Count Siegfried from eavesdropping on Khajiit. While they were both technically High Disciples of Zuranon she had spent the better part of her time in Zuranon fleeing from the Windflower Scripture. Not to mention that many of the other High Disciples didn't trust her. She was only granted her position due to the value of the information she had given Zuranon and how powerful she was as a former Black Scripture member. Any other rank would have been insulting to her.

Obviously, Count Siegfried was afraid of being caught associating with Clementine while the Theocracy was still looking for her. With his hands so deep in Zuranon business in the Imperial Capital, any suspicion, any rumor of involvement with Zuranon laid towards him might get him killed should the Emperor wish to acquire his property.

Raising her hands in the air, an amused Clementine tried to calm him down.

"Oh, calm down, old man! I wasn't followed. Windflower lost track of me in E-Rantel."

"The Theocracy has other agents as you well know. Some of them here in the Capital. Should they see you here, it would mean a great deal of trouble for me!"

"They didn't."

Siegfried rolled his eyes as Clementine said this.

"You don't know that."

A wide smile came across Clementine's face.

"But I do know."

She turned to look beside her. Siegfried saw nothing and neither did Clementine but she knew what had really followed her to Siegfried's home.

"Reveal yourself."

Appearing before both of them was a pale ghostly image of a young man in robes. Translucent and incorporeal in nature, this Wraith that had been tailing Clementine was one that Tri'ade had summoned to watch over his new servant. The Wraith answered in a raspy voice that sent a chill down Siegried's spine, "Yes, Mistress."

"Can you tell this old man if anyone followed me." Clementine casually asked the Wraith that had watched her since making her journey from the Forest of Tob. The ghostly specter turned to look Siegfried with its cold dead eyes and spoke again in a low raspy voice.

"No one followed. We have watched."

Growing pale Siegfried demanded answers from Clementine..

"Whose undead is this? You can't be it's summoner."

Raising her hands up, Clementine protested, "Oh, so many questions, old man! Heh, none of them are the right ones!"

Walking over to a small wooden cabinet with drinking glasses placed on top of it, Clementine picked up one of them in her hand.

"For instance, if I wanted a drink?"

Turning her head with a wide grin to Siegfried, she said, "Oh, that reminds me... last I checked, I'm still a High Disciple. Tell me Sieggy, what are you again?"

"Hmph! A Vicar."

There were many ranks in Zuranon denoting status but all of them had roots in the Slane Theocracy's Hierarchy. The cult of Zuranon originated in the teachings of the Prophet Zuranon and was considered a heresy to the church of the God of Death, Surshana. Ranks such as Acolyte was given to initiates, following a similar ranking structure as the church's ranks in the Theocracy until one reached the rank of High Disciple.

The High Disciples numbering twelve members were the highest authority with the chosen Prophet of Zuranon leading the entire cult. In that way, it operated similarly to the Council of Cardinals with the Pontifex Maximinus being its nominal head. Each High Disciple operated independently within their own respective territories of influence and only convened to discuss and settle matters of importance to the cult as a whole.

At times, the High Disciples of Zuranon were called the Twelve Executives by... less pious members of the Death Cult. After all, not everyone that joined Zuranon was a devout follower of the teachings of the Prophet. Many, like Clementine, joined out of self-interest to acquire what Zuranon could offer them.

While the Cult of Zuranon had originated in the Slane Theocracy, its Holy Inquisition had ensured worshipers following the teachings of Zuranon were dealt with harshly and any members hunted down for the crime of heresy. This greatly reduced the influence of Zuranon in the Slane Theocracy but the same couldn't be said of nations neighboring it.

The Baharuth Empire had a hands-off relationship with the church as it was in its territory. The Church of the Four Gods itself was bordering on heresy following only four of the six great gods omitting the Gods of Life and Death. The Theocracy's Holy Inquisition couldn't operate openly within the Empire or the Kingdom, making those two countries an ideal ground for Zuranon to operate in.

Clementine had only gained her title of High Disciple recently through her defection but she still outranked the count who had spent decades in the organization. It irritated him that this annoying woman was given such a privileged rank but he understood why his superiors did it. Someone of Clementine's abilities and the information she had given their organization were invaluable.

She was right that he was being disrespectful to someone of her rank but her brash, whimsical attitude rubbed him the wrong way. Turning his gaze to the wraith that accompanied Clementine, he decided to reconsider that impression. She was obviously here under the direction of a powerful necromancer, Khajit perhaps? In any case, it didn't appear to be such a careless visit to his home as he first suspected.

Count Siegfried walked towards Clementine and the wooden cabinet. Opening it revealed a storage rack of different wines. The cabinet was a magical appliance that was meant to keep the temperature and humidity of the wine stored to be ideal to avoid spoiling the wine. The old noble had spent a considerable fortune to get it but it was well worth it when he had meetings with rich nobles.

Grabbing one of the wine bottles he looked at Clementine.

"Would you care for a drink... High Disciple?"

"Yes, sugar. After that, you can arrange a meeting for me."

* * *

 _ **The capital of the Slane Theocracy-Inner Sanctum**_

In the innermost reaches of the Slane Theocracy, very few were allowed in this innermost sanctum.

The first was the highest-ranked member of the Theocracy, the Pontifex Maximus.

Next were the Cardinals, the highest appointment holders of the six sects that were devoted to the Six Gods. Incidentally, each of them (aside from the one belonging to the same sect as the current Pontifex Maximus) was a potential candidate to be the next Pontifex Maximus.

Following them were the heads of the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch of the Theocracy's government. There was the head of the research institute which handled magical research. In addition, there was the Grand Marshal, the highest appointment-holder in the military.

These twelve people were the leaders of the Slane Theocracy, the nation which stood against the bulwark of monsters and demi-humans that threaten to destroy the nations of man. The shepherds of the faith of the Gods that saved humanity in their darkest hour.

Tirelessly they carefully cleaned the inner sanctum they were meeting in. This was a holy place and the act of cleaning it was itself a holy rite long practiced in the Theocracy. It was said long ago the Six themselves met in this very room to found the Slane Theocracy over six centuries ago.

When they finished they lined up to six statues lining the room depicting the Six Great Gods.

"Today, we give thanks to the gods that human beings like ourselves are still alive."

After the Pontifex Maximus said those words, everyone repeated them after him.

"Thus do we offer our thanks."

After cleaning themselves and putting away their cleaning equipment in the corner of the room they sat down at a roundtable. A roundtable symbolizing their equality in the service of the Six Great Gods and in humanity itself.

"Then, let us begin the meeting."

The organizer of this meeting was the Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan.

"Our first topic is the annihilation of the Sunlight Scripture."

Few things could be a more important topic than the destruction of one of the Six Scriptures. Cardinal Dominic Ihre Partouche grimaced at the mere mention of it. He was a former member of the Sunlight Scripture and while by some miracle of the gods his nephew survived, it was still a heavy blow to hear the group he used to belong to had been destroyed.

While the others in this room had heard about the Scripture's defeat they knew nothing of the details regarding it. Most of what they knew was hearsay.

The Cardinal of Darkness, Maximilian Oreio Lagier, who was surrounded by books supported by floating disk spells spoke first to Raymond, "Annihilation is a strong word."

"It's appropriate."

"I heard the adventurer Tri'ade Nazarick and his team defeated the Sunlight Scripture. Is it not the same as it was with Blue Rose?"

"No, it is not. He has only recently formed his team and became a registered adventurer with the Guild."

"What?! Are you saying one man defeated the entire Sunlight Scripture?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. You can see in my report, I have several sources which can confirm this."

"What about the-"

The doors to the inner sanctum of the Theocracy's leadership violently opened. Stepping forward was a young man with brown hair and red eyes wearing ornate armor. It was the Black Scripture Captain Kentaro. Rushing forward to the roundtable, he surprised many of the leadership there. If the Black Scripture Captain were to be called in to talk to them he would wait to be summoned by them.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"My apologies Cardinals, most august leaders. But our defenses have been compromised and I feared for your safety."

Cardinal Raymond stood up at hearing this.

"What has happened?"

"The Vault of the Six Great Gods has been assaulted by a powerful magic user calling himself Lazarus. He managed to escape by magic after the rest of the Black Scripture was mobilized to assist the Extra Seat."

Cardinal of Wind Dominic fumed. "Escape? Impossible! The passageways leading to that sacred place are warded against teleportation magic."

"That is true. I do not know the details but it seems some manner of illusion magic was used. The only thing we ever saw was an illusion of the magic caster."

"Illusions can't harm us. There is more to it than that is there?"

"Yes. Somehow through his illusion, he managed to cast powerful magic to fight the vault guards. Two Cathedral Knights are already slain."

Most in the room looked towards Director Krenn, head of the magical research institute for his opinion.

"There are many types of illusion spells but I'm not familiar with anything like this. I'll have the Illusionist Division look into it. Any further details you have on the magic should be forwarded to me."

Looking to Cardinal Raymond, the Black Scripture Captain continued with his report, "In the meantime, I have stationed Thousand Leagues, Time Turbulence, and Divine Chain to assist in the defense of the treasury."

"Good. Comrades, I believe it prudent to table this meeting for now. Captain Kentaro, you will debrief me on everything."

The other Cardinals agreed and with that, their meeting was ended prematurely in order for the Cardinal of Earth to investigate the latest attack on the Theocracy. Captain Kentaro and the rest of the Black Scripture prioritized the safety of the Cardinals, escorting them back to their residences. Cardinal Raymond went to the Vault of the Six Great Gods to meet with the Extra Seat to get her report on the situation.

* * *

 **Afterword**

This was a long time in coming I know but I wanted to take my time with this one. It sets up plenty of fun for later chapters. One of the toughest things was determining what abilities and capabilities Zesshi had and the natural history of Zuranon. Cults, after all, do not form out of mustache-twirling villains, all pursuing immortality. The "all" part being important because Khajiit definitely did... and the fact others are already undead. I mean, even the Dark Brotherhood had actual religious elements with its deference to the Night Mother.

I also found out the Black Scripture Captain doesn't have a name despite appearing twice in the Anime while Zesshi who has appeared once has one. So I just named him after his voice actor.

*proofread and edited for grammar by PervySageChuck*


	17. Volume 3: Chapter 4: Return to Tobb

_**Volume 3: Darkness, Chapter 4: Return to Tob.**_

In the Throne Room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, an assembly of the Floor Guardians and their master, Tri'ade Nazarick was being held. Albedo, as always, was standing at Tri'ade's side, both as his Overseer of the Guardians and first wife. The rest of the Floor Guardians save for Victim of the 8th Floor who was absent were prostrating themselves before the Throne of the Kings which Tri'ade sat upon.

In addition to these familiar faces was a doppelganger in a yellow and orange military uniform. This was Pandora's Actor, the creation of the former Guild Master, Momonga, and was the Guardian of the Treasury. They had met once already since coming to this New World. When he went to the Treasury to look for junk magical items for his new human minions, Darkness, and to discuss World Items. From Clementine, he found out the Theocracy might possess a World Item. Strangely enough, only Godkin from respective bloodlines could use it.

The reason for this meeting was a simple one. Tri'ade needed to get back in touch with what his guardians were doing and give direction on what they should do for the future before he goes back to adventuring and leaving most of the details to Albedo and Demiurge to sort out.

As Lord of Nazarick, he couldn't afford to be clueless as to what his servants were doing. Their reports were forthcoming but not everything could be gleaned from them. Tri'ade had to remind himself they were monsters despite them being the dear creations of his friends.

"Floor Guardians. Thank you for assembling before me."

Tri'ade's attention and gaze went upon the stylish devil, Demiurge.

"Demiurge, I appreciate your swiftness in returning. I know your work in Abelion keeps you busy."

"You are too generous, lord. It is expected of me as it is all of your humble servants."

"Right. Well, it is evident that the skin you brought from the Abelion Hills can be used as parchment for low tier scrolls. Can we get a reliable supply of the material?"

"Yes, That will not be a problem. I have acquired an ample number of them."

 _Ample number? Has he been making a farm in the Hills without my permission? The only thing I told Demiurge to do was to conduct experi..._

"Hmm."

"Lord?"

"Your reports were vague. I wish you to directly state the name of the species you acquired the skin from."

Demiurge paused briefly to think, and then continued, "My apologies. I will write with better clarity in the future. The skin comes from the test subjects you granted me."

The color of Tri'ade's face left him as he considered Demiurge's words. It was human skin that made this new parchment. It made a certain morbid sense. In fiction, powerful magical tomes were made from human skin like the Necronomicon.

Holding his hand over his mouth, Tri'ade tried to avoid displaying any weakness to his floor guardians by passing it off as him being in thought. Though as he pretended, a thought did occur.

" _Tier three spells are what most of the Sunlight Scripture were capable of. The same as what this parchment can store..."_

Raising his head up Demiurge asked. "Is there something the matter, Lord Tri'ade?"

"No. No. It's just that. Have you tried making parchment from other species, Demiurge?"

"Yes, but the results were lacking. Parchment derived from other subjects could only store tier one spells."

"Were they magic casters?"

A shocked look came across Demiurge's face until he smiled. Using his index finger he pressed his glasses closer to his face as he answered, "No, Lord Tri'ade. They were not."

Demiurge chuckled which disturbed Tri'ade. He began to think he said something wrong until the devil spoke up. "Amazing! I didn't even consider that fact. Here I was thinking age or other crude factors were in play. I stand in awe of your insight, Lord Tri'ade."

Taken aback by Demiurge's deluge of praise, Tri'ade could only respond humbly, "Well, It's just a theory. Correlation does not mean causation."

"Indeed. I'll need to acquire new test subjects to confirm it. With your leave, I will seek out powerful magic casters in the Abelion Hills."

"Granted."

Tri'ade almost suggested to Demiurge to look out for magical creatures like Hamsuke but decided against it. Aura already wanted to skin the creature for its fur. He didn't need Demiurge to join in that interest. The giant hamster did swear his loyalty to him in exchange for his life after all.

Speaking of Aura, he turned to her and her brother Mare who were kneeling in front of him as well.

"Next Aura, Mare. I understand you found a suitable site for a quarry?"

Aura spoke up with a smile on her face, "Yes! We are having the golems evacuate the stone and haul it to Fort Tob. Construction is starting on the... ah, inner bailey walls per your specifications."

Aura clearly struggled with the terminology of castles but it pleased Tri'ade that things were progressing with Fort Tob. He had described to Aura generally what a castle needed to be effective and what he wanted Fort Tob to become. An underground labyrinth probably would be a far more effective defensive position given the existence of magic and dragons in this world but... Tri'ade had always wanted to own a castle. The imposing walls of a castle, the architecture of the building in plain sight. It had a charm to it that underground tunnels did not.

To justify the expense and the work the elves were putting into it, he stated that he wanted them to include a large area of the future outer bailey to be a castle town. Most of the goblins, Naga and other semi-intelligent creatures of the forest lived in primitive villages, if not a cold dark cave. Tri'ade wanted the various races of the forest to live in Fort Tob to create an actual town in the area to become the administrative and economic center of the entire forest.

The fortification of the outer wall could also deter attack from the humans. Tri'ade doubted events in the Forest of Tob could remain a secret to the outside world forever. Only the bravest of adventurers ventured deep into the forest but given his expanding influence, the signs of the inhabitants unifying would get out eventually. When that time comes it would be better if the natives of the forest could defend themselves with minimal assistance from Nazarick.

"Good. Excellent work. As soon as the inner bailey is finished instruct Administrator Ryraryus to move his residence to the Keep. I want him on site to organize the effort to construct the castle town around Fort Tob."

"Will do, Lord Tri'ade! I'll pick him up when it is done."

"Oh, I heard you saw the giant tree in the forest."

"Yes! The thing is huge! Bigger than anything I have ever seen. Even larger than Gargantua!"

If it was as large as Aura claimed, the tree must be truly ancient. Something several hundred if not thousands of years old. But according to Ryura, it appeared in the forest around two centuries ago. Tri'ade concluded it must be due to the anomaly bringing the tree into the world.

Mare with his typical stuttering spoke up, "Th-the land around the tree is dying."

It's not unheard of larger plants depriving other nearby plants of nutrients, but Mare's phrasing piqued Tri'ade's interest.

"The land? Not just other trees?"

"Yes. The whole area around the huge tree is desolate barren land. The smaller trees of the forest are withering and dying."

"Hmm, Mare?"

"Y-Yes, Lord?"

"Look to see if this withering is spreading. It could pose a problem to Fort Tob's future."

Mare nodded frantically, "I-I will learn everything there is to know about it!"

Hopefully, with Mare being a druid, he will be well suited for investigating this huge tree draining the life of the land around it. Though Tri'ade had some doubts, given Mare's submissive personality.

"Next. I would like to introduce you all to Pandora's Actor."

Pandora's Actor clicked his heels together and saluted his Lord.

"Yes! It is I! Pandora's Actor, Area Guardian of the Treasury, Creation of the Supreme Being, Momonga. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."

Blank faces met Pandora Actor's enthusiastic introduction but Tri'ade smiled. He overacted with everything he said. In that way, Pandora's Actor was quite comical.

"Pandora's Actor will distribute World Items for each of the Floor Guardians whose duties take them outside of Nazarick."

Saying that, Pandora's Actor raised his arm up high in one of his dramatic poses.

"World Item! It can change the world! Immense Power! Yes, Guardians, you will be entrusted with symbols of the Supreme Being's greatness! Accompany me, Pandora's Actor, to the treasury afterward to receive your very own."

"The World Items are for your own protection. Safeguard them the same as your own lives." Demiurge said with conviction.

"What are you saying, Lord Tri'ade? We live to serve the Supreme Beings. Anyone would gladly give their lives rather than fail you."

Raising his hand to interject, Tri'ade said, "I know this. However, I value your lives higher than any...setbacks you may face."

"We are unworthy of your mercy, Lord Tri'ade!"

Demiurge and the rest of the guardians smiled at their master's words. However, it was due to the concern about their wellbeing that motivated him to say such things. From what he had seen in the months since coming to this world, the NPCs were fatalistic about any perception of failure on their part to serve him.

Narberal even offered to cut her own throat after failing to protect Ninya while adventuring together. She didn't care one lick about the human getting killed, but because she had failed in her service to him.

In the end, Tri'ade talked her out of it, dismissing it as a minor issue. Ninya's body was intact and no one else had seen the death happen besides the other members of Darkness. It was resolved with him using a Gate and resurrecting Ninya's broken body. A minor inconvenience at best but one he had expected. After all, it was part of why Narberal was watching over them. But his servant treated it as some irredeemable sin she had committed.

This made their Lord and Master afraid for his servants, that they would prefer to jump into a fire to burn to death rather than failing him in any way possible. Ignoring the fact they were his friends' creations and just looking at it from a practical perspective, the assignments he gave them were not worth the huge piles of gold needed to resurrect them.

The very fact that Narberal offered to slit her own throat showed they didn't know their own worth. It was madness, but it was born from their devotion to him. So as Guild-Leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, he had to learn to deal with it. It could be worse.

Looking again at the flamboyant Pandora's Actor, Tri'ade spoke in a commanding voice, "There is another task I wish you to undertake."

"Yes, mien fuhrer?"

"Take the form of your creator and begin using the corpses stored on the Fifth Floor to create undead."

Pandora's Actor's form dissolved into flesh like clay until it slowly reformed into that of his creator, Momonga. The skeletal form of the large Overlord morphing into being was followed by his dark robes and the crimson orb located within his chest cavity.

Despite knowing what Pandora's Actor was capable of as a doppelganger, Tri'ade was taken aback hearing the voice of his old friend coming out of the NPC. The physical mannerisms were still Pandora's but the voice was Momonga's as he remembered him.

"You can entrust this task to me, oh Supreme One! I will create magnificent undead to serve you, mien Fuhrer."

The form of Momonga did one of Pandora's dramatic poses. Tri'ade had to keep himself from laughing at the contrast of how Pandora acted and the form he took. Momonga would never do such things. He wondered why Momonga created the NPC to have such a different personality to himself. The other NPCs sometimes acted like their creators, but not Pandora's Actor. In that way, he was an exception.

As a Greater Doppelganger, Pandora's Actor could assume all the abilities and skills of his Master to a lesser degree. That still should make the undead he could create on par with Tri'ade given how much Momonga's racial levels boosted the strength of the undead he created. More importantly, he would have access to the racial daily abilities to raise Mid to High Tier Undead without the mana cost.

Tri'ade withdrew the Jewel of Death from his inventory and looked at it. It was such a simple thing and not even a powerful artifact considering what else he had in the treasury. But its sentience as a magical item proved useful.

"The Overlords of Ashurbanipal will also be assigned to work with Pandora's Actor on the Fifth Floor. Demiurge, make sure suitable defenders are stationed at the library to cover for their absence."

"It shall be done, Lord Tri'ade."

"Thanks to my own inquiries, I found one can transfer control of summoned undead to another caster. As Pandora's Actor must maintain his form to control the undead he will transfer it to the Overlords."

A flash of realization came across Demiurge's face and then a wide smile.

"They will become Generals of Nazarick's Undead with Crypt Lords leading forces under them. Be sure to inform them to study the Art of War and On War found in the library."

"This will require a large number of corpses."

"We can get more from the mass graves of those villages the Theocracy destroyed."

"About that, Lord Tri'ade."

Albedo at his side spoke up and Tri'ade turned his head to look at her.

"Aura has found villages of lizardmen. Why not attack and destroy them?"

* * *

 _ **Inner Sanctum, the Capital of the Slane Theocracy**_

The leadership of the Slane Theocracy convened once more in their secluded sanctum to discuss matters of importance to the survival of humanity and the continuation of the Theocracy. Captain Kentaro had finished debriefing them on their mission to investigate the possible revival of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord and their findings at Carne Village. The Black Scripture's Captain left after Cardinal of Earth Raymond informed the Cardinals of the details of the attack on the Sacred Treasury.

Director Krenn stated, "We still don't know what tier of magic the assailant used but considering it was a legendary undead the Summoning Division informs me it must have been at a minimum a sixth tier spell."

"Impossible." answered Cardinal of Light Yvon. "You are saying this caster has a greater grasp of magic than the Triad Magic Caster?"

"Much more powerful," said Director Krenn. "The summoning Division thinks the second undead summoned by the caster must have come from a seventh or even eighth tier spell, given the reports on how strong it was. But it's impossible to know for certain. We haven't been able to identify it. With your permission, I would like to have a senior scribe consult the Divine Archive.

Pontifex Maximus declared, "I have no issue with this. It is imperative to identify the threat. Are we in agreement?"

The rest of the room looked at each other and nodded. It was a heavy matter to allow a scribe to consult the Divine Archive. Its contents were the closest guarded secrets of the Theocracy. Many tomes and scrolls contained there were over six centuries old and relics of the Six Great Gods. Many of the contents of the documents were mysterious and contained half-forgotten knowledge. Some have even gone mad examining books from the forbidden section of the archive. Only the most trusted and faithful scribes were allowed to work and handle the documents.

Cardinal of Earth Raymond then replied, "Until we know exactly how to counter this Lazarus' illusion magic, I have reassigned the Black Scripture to increase security at key locations, including the Divine Archive and the Sacred Treasury. Should another attack occur in the capital, we will need the Black Scripture nearby to respond."

"Isn't that what you are already doing? Cardinal of Wind Dominic angrily answered. "We can't simply be on the defensive. We must hunt down this heretic that tried to steal from the Gods!"

Raymond looked at his upset colleague and scornfully asked, "Oh, do you know where to find him? If not, it's a fool's errand to send the Black Scripture on a wild goose chase. We do not even know if Lazarus is his true name."

"No, I don't, but it's obvious who sent him. Given your own report, this Lazarus knew Zesshi Zetsumei. There is only one person outside the capital who knows of her."

Cardinal of Water Ginedine then spoke up, "We don't know for certain that it was Zuranon."

Dominic replied, "Don't we? A powerful necromancer shows up knowing precisely where to steal our most sacred relics and knows who is guarding it. That is information only the traitor Clementine could have. We know she joined Zuranon."

Berenice calmly said, "I agree. Finding the traitor is more important now than ever."

"That's a problem," Raymond added. "The Windflower Scripture lost track of her during the chaos at E-Rantel. Clementine's body wasn't found after the undead uprising put down by Tri'ade Nazarick."

Dominic muttered, "Tri'ade Nazarick..."

Cardinal of Light Yvon spoke up, "Many died that night. Could she still be among them and no one could identify her? Adventurers do love to strip bodies of valuables."

Raymond respondee, "No. The Windflower Scripture was thorough in its investigation of the bodies. She wasn't among them. I believe she escaped during the battle and left the necromancer Khajit to face Tri'ade alone."

"You believe," said Cardinal Ginedine. "You don't know?"

Cardinal Raymond answered, "No. Windflower couldn't get eyes on the fight. A wraith summoned by the presence of so many undead chased away the agent assigned to watch Tri'ade."

Cardinal Ginedine then asked, "Could the traitor have joined forces with this Tri'ade Nazarick? From your reports, it suggests that he's a powerful Godkin. If anyone is capable of casting magic of that tier it would be him."

"I doubt it." Cardinal Raymond continued, "The soldiers we secured from Re-estize's custody report that Tri'ade summoned a host of Archangels of Flame. He would have to be capable of casting arcane and divine spells beyond the sixth tier."

"Did they see him cast the spell?" asked Ginedine. "It's possible he used some sort of artifact to summon the angels."

Raymond replied, "The men reported that he cast the spell. If you wish to question them yourself I can arrange it."

 _Waving him off with a hand gesture,_ Ginedine said, "Ah, no. That won't be necessary. I just wanted to be certain. It's odd to hear of two unknown individuals of such incredible power suddenly appearing."

Cardinal Yvon interjected, "I don't know what is the worse possibility, that this Tri'ade and Lazarus could be the same person or that there are two magic casters of such power working against us."

The Pontifex Maximusthen confidently announced, "Regardless, we shall persevere. As we must for humanity's sake. As long as we have the gods and their bloodlines on our side we shall triumph in the end."

They all nodded in agreement. A long silence followed until Cardinal Raymond spoke up while lifting up an open letter, "I do have evidence of my belief that this Tri'ade wouldn't join with the traitor."

Cardina Dominic's head snapped around as he demanded, "What is that!?"

Raymond held up the letter and said, "This letter came along with your nephew. It's written by Tri'ade Nazarick to us and it's an interesting read. Of course, I've had it checked for all possible risks and found nothing, so it's safe."

"Hah!" exclaimed Berenice. "Arrogant man! What does it say?"

Cardinal Dominic stared at the letter in Raymond's hand and humphed to himself.

Ginedine spoke up again, "I must admit I'm curious as well. Why do you bring this to our attention now?"

"Get to your point." ordered the Pontifex Maximus. "It's no time to beat around the bush Raymond."

Cardinal Raymond humbly answered, "Yes your holiness. I believe the only way to do it justice is for you to read it. I've had copies made for all of you."

Papers were all passed out by Raymond and the members in the room scrutinized it.

"Why did you write these out in the holy tongue?" asked Cardinal Yvon.

Raymond replied, "My scribes just copied what was in the letter. No changes were made."

"I don't recognize some of these characters," said a puzzled Berenice.

 _With a look of shock on her face,_ Ginedine said, "I do. This is from the old alphabet! The same as the Six Great Gods and the first acolytes wrote in!"

"What?!" exclaimed Yvon. "How can you be sure?"

Ginedine answered, "My work has taken me to the Divine Archive to study the ancient texts. I'm certain of it. Some of these characters are definitely from the old way of writing the holy tongue."

Cardinal Dominic demanded, "What does it say? What does the man who destroyed the Sunlight Scripture and spared my nephew wish to say to us?"

Cardinal Raymond calmly asked, "Would you like to read it Ginedine? I've looked at it more than enough these past few weeks."

Ginedine, the Cardinal of Water replied, "Certainly. If you all would allow me. Let us see here... It says..."

 _Dear Cardinals of the Slane Theocracy._

 _I trust this letter finds itself in your loyal servant's_ possession _and is heard among your peers. I do hope you lot have remembered your letters from the Six Great Gods._ Otherwise _, I have written this for naught._

 _As you may already have heard, the Sunlight Scripture is no more. All dead forever save for one soul. You may ask yourself why. Why did I do this? Why did I_ choose _to inflict such a heavy loss upon_ you? _For I could have simply let the bodies be and allowed their return to the_ Theocracy _._

 _The answer is simple. I kill monsters and you have forgotten what makes a true monster. True monsters are not born, they are made. Made by choices. Choices which define who we truly are. While the temptations and choices may differ for each of us, this truth is undeniable._

 _The Sunlight Scripture were monsters. They reveled in the rape and slaughter they unleashed upon their fellow man. While they indulge themselves in their_ monstrous _work they proclaimed it as the will of the gods. That they had been given leave to_ commit _such atrocities without reprimand._

 _I know this to be false. For if it were true, why did fate intervene? I had not intended to come across villagers fleeing the slaughter. I had not even intended to be within the Kingdom at all._

 _Yet I was. Brought by fate, not of my own will, to this foreign land. It was fate that I had come across those poor villagers fleeing your Scripture's_ monstrous _actions. Fate, as you should know, is within the domain of the gods. Perhaps it_ was the _will of the gods that the Sunlight Scripture was to be sent on this mission but not to succeed in it. It is difficult to say._

 _In either case. I've seen fit to return the sealing crystal which one of your own claimed to be a holy relic. I did this because I bear the_ Theocracy _as a whole no ill will. I did what I must. To stop monsters from ravaging the land and its people._

 _The same is the reasoning why I spared the man called Arthur. He was no monster. In him still beats a human heart. A heart of compassion and empathy. A mind that knows what is right and just. One who mourns the loss of friends and the suffering of the innocent alike._

 _Ignore at your own peril the truth of this. The gods do not favor monsters. Monsters are dangerous not only to others but to themselves._

 _True monsters will destroy themselves in the end if they are not destroyed by others. They are like a fire which consumes all. They can set the world alight before burning themselves out. It is the duty of those who wish to preserve the creation of the gods to snuff them out._

 _Your own choice to send the Sunlight Scripture on that mad mission was your folly. Born out of monstrous cruelty and self-righteous belief._

 _But as with all choices like it, to be a monster is not one made forever. One can make choices to steer their lives away from being monsters. While it may be a difficult path to walk for one who has long done such things, it is not impossible._

 _I hope you all remember that going forward._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Lord Tri'ade of Nazarick._

After the Cardinal of Water was finished reading, the room was in a flurry of commotion discussing and debating what the letter and the fact it was written in the old alphabet meant. The discussion lasted for hours but in the end, most in the room concluded that the man who had written that letter would never have willingly joined forces with the traitor Clementine. The woman had a reputation even when she was a Black Scripture member of being sadistically cruel and reprimanded for her unauthorized use of torture. More resources were planned for spreading the search for the traitor and to combat Zuranon.

The meeting between the leadership of the Slane Theocracy ended shortly after that. With each Cardinal contemplating on what they had learned during it and wondering what the future would hold for humanity and the nation they loved.

* * *

 **City of E-Rantel, Re-estize Kingdom**

Later, in the Shining Golden Pavillion Inn in the city of E-Rantel, the adventuring party Darkness was eating in the dining area. The party had been using the Inn for some time now as their base of operations within the city. Unlike the cheap inn Darkness was formerly used to, the Shining Golden Pavillion was the most luxurious inn in the city where only the noble and wealthy could normally afford to stay.

Lakrut was stuffing his face with venison enjoying the high life, Dyne was himself enjoying a large fancy salad. Narberal wasn't eating anything. She didn't need to of course with the ring of sustenance she had on. The only thing Narberal had ordered was a latte which she slowly sipped.

Ninya and Peter both got beef steak. Being from poor villages, meat was always a luxury and they had always dreamed of eating cooked steak. To produce livestock for slaughter was difficult work given all the carnivorous monsters that lurked in the forest. Rich Nobles on their farmland could afford to have guards to protect their cattle but this only increased prices for meat.

They normally did not spend so much gold on food but today was special. The guild had finally recognized Darkness's strength. Their team had been recognized as adamantite ranked after their expedition into the Kataze Plains to capture a Lich for the Imperial Arena. After they came back with the Lich and the trophies showing how many undead they had slain they had been paid quite a lot of gold for their efforts.

However, one person that was missing from their festivities was their leader, Tri'ade. While they had gone on a few quests together after defeating the Death Bringing Brigade, Tri'ade had left Peter in charge while pursuing other matters including their expedition into the Katze Plains.

Peter's group as they were before would never have survived the Katze Plains to capture a Lich alive. But their lord had given them many magic items from his treasury. Peter right now was wearing an enchanted full plate armor made from adamantite and had many magical accessories including a ring of regeneration. With that ring, he was granted the regenerative abilities of a troll. With these items, he could act as a bulwark against any undead they faced.

And it wasn't like their lord had truly left them behind. With Narberal, they could get in touch with him using a message spell and Tri'ade assured them he could use his black portals to arrive at their location at a moment's notice to assist them if needed.

So it was not a great surprise for them to see Tri'ade arrive unannounced at the dining area of the Shining Golden Pavillion. He walked down the stairs from the Inn's rooms upstairs as any other guest would from their rooms. Though they knew their lord had never actually used his room at the Inn.

Narberal got up from sipping her latte and bowed to Tri'ade. It was an improvement on how she would kneel to him every time they met again, even in public, but it still drew unwanted attention.

"Master."

Nodding in return, Tri'ade moved to take the remaining seat at the far side of the long table next to where Ninya was sitting. But before he could sit down, Narberal moved her chair to offer it to her master. Peter and Narberal were sitting at the far ends of the table while the rest of the party were along the sides.

Hesitating for a moment, Tri'ade decided it was best to accept the chair offered and he sat down as Narberal pushed his chair closer to the table before taking the seat next to Ninya he was originally going for. He half-remembered something as he sat down about chair placement at a table being indicative of one's rank but couldn't remember the details.

Lukrut waved at him with his mouth still stuffed to the brim with his food. Dyne, sitting beside Lukrut, nodded to Tri'ade.

"Sir Tri'ade, it's a welcome sight to see you."

"Likewise."

A female waiter with blonde hair and blue eyes featured by so many in the Kingdom came to Darkness' table. She put a menu down in front of Tri'ade.

"Is there anything I can get for you, sir?"

"Some tea with sugar."

"Oh, of course sir. What blend of tea can I get for you."

Looking at the menu he couldn't read for a couple of seconds he then turned to the waitress.

"Surprise me. I'm unfamiliar with some of these."

"Then I'll get you some blueberry tea, sir."

"Sounds lovely."

Tri'ade smiled at the waitress as she quickly turned to leave the table. Tri'ade couldn't see her face but the waitress was blushing. He had his helmet off in this establishment and relied on his illusion magic to hide his horns and his devilish eyes. Leaving only an elven looking face to behold.

Unbeknownst to Tri'ade, Narberal wasn't the only one with admirers. Many of the affluent women in the Golden Pavillion's dining area watched him with fawning interest as he went to sit at his table. Including the waitress, which was why he got served so promptly after sitting down.

"I've found your sister."

When Tri'ade said this, Ninya's eyes gleamed and she sat up straight with her hands upon the table. Everyone else in Darkness got excited and smiled, with the exception of the stoic Narberal Gamma.

"Where is she?! How is she?"

"She's fine." Tri'ade lied. He had no way of knowing that but when confronted with Ninya he didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise. It had been a long time since she had first asked him to find her sister given everything else.

"From what I can tell she's in Re-Estize."

"Re-Estize is a big city." Dyne commented.

"My people are watching the place she's staying at."

"Then let us go get her!" exclaimed Ninya.

"I don't know who her master is. We should find out before taking her."

"There are a lot of nobles in Re-Estize." Peter added.

The waitress arrived with the tea. Bringing with her a small tea set and a bowl of sugar cubes, she set it upon the table. She then poured Tri'ade a cup of tea from a magical teapot meant to keep the tea at the right temperature. Picking up a sugar cube with a spoon she dropped one in the teacup and stirred before tapping the rim of the teacup to shake off the spoon.

"Would you like more sugar?"

"No, that is plenty."

"Is there anything else I can get you, sir?" the blushing waitress asked as she leaned over.

"I already ate today." Tri'ade answered.

The waitress bowed and left Tri'ade to enjoy the tea he ordered. It conferred no stat bonuses like the tea in Nazarick did but it did have an herbal taste to it. He used the spoon left behind to put another two cubes of sugar in his drink and sipped it.

"Gazef Stronoff owes me. Even if he doesn't know, he might know someone who does."

"You saved him. Is he another servant?" Lukrut asked sarcastically.

"No. It isn't like that."

A slight smile formed on Tri'ade's face. The other members of Darkness were still rather stiff around him but Lukrut after the initial shock was back to his regular joking self. Though he didn't flirt with Narberal as he did before. Perhaps it was because he now knew she wasn't human or maybe something happened between them when he was away from the group? In either case, it was less of a headache for him to deal with.

Another person came towards the table. This time it was a man in plain clothes which stood out among the wealthy patrons gathered in the Golden Pavillion Inn. Upon his shirt hung a pin with the symbol of two crossed swords painted upon it.

Peter looked towards the newcomer with curiosity.

"A runner?"

Crossed Swords was the symbol of the Adventurers' Guild and marked this runner as being in the guild's employ. Given the nature of adventurers, it was expected that the guild members would spread themselves far and wide. These runners typically carried messages from the guild to its members. Men like these were the ones that spread the word in E-Rantel when the undead army attacked the city for adventurers to assemble.

"Pardon my intrusion. Are you the adamantine adventurer team, Darkness?"

"We are."

"The Guild has received a message for you."

Digging out of his pocket he handed a letter to Tri'ade with a wax seal. The runner then bid them farewell and left the building having other errands for the guild to run. Inspecting the seal he recognized it as the ones on the flags of the Mayor's Palace in E-Rantel.

"That's the Royal Seal!" said Peter.

"Whoa!" Lukrut excitedly exclaimed.

With his hands, he broke the wax seal on the letter and read it using [Comprehend Languages] tracing with his finger its contents. It was a formal invitation to a royal feast celebrating the "defenders of his Majesty Ramposa the Third's subjects."

"What does it say?"

"Apparently I'm invited to a feast."

"I've never heard of an adventurer being invited before."

"Well, it is probably due to saving the Chief Warrior right?"

"Seems so. According to the letter, we only have a month till the feast and it's being held in Re-Estize."

"Shouldn't be a problem, should it, Lord? You already planned to head that way anyway."

"Right... We'll leave E-Rantel before the day is over."

Peter looked over to Tri'ade. "Should we restock on supplies?"

It was a good question. If they were traveling from E-Rantel to Re-Estize on foot it would take them at least a few weeks, if not more. The date for the royal feast in that sense did not give them much time to delay. That is if they went by foot. Tri'ade planned to open up a portal outside the city as a shortcut to eliminate all that tedious walking. But it might be prudent to prepare for a long journey if they were being watched in the city. Given how many onlookers they got while walking the streets it was difficult to shift out who might be spying on them.

"Get only the essentials. We'll be taking a shortcut to Re-Estize."

Peter nodded. Tri'ade didn't want to waste money on supplies that would spoil. Even with Darkness completing assignments on their own, he was worried about not having enough New World Currency. He had not only Darkness' and Sebas' teams working in the Kingdom but others working in the neighboring countries.

It was fortunate Darkness seemed content in allowing Tri'ade to receive all the reward money for the assignments they completed. But that was due to their gratitude for saving them and giving them magical items from the Treasury of the Great Tomb. It was mostly junk items but considering they didn't have magical items before it was a huge upgrade for them. Tri'ade couldn't rely on that forever though. Unlike the NPCs, they would eventually expect a salary at some point.

New sources of revenue were needed but that was something to think about later. After Darkness departed from the Golden Inn Pavillion, they went to the adventurers guild to acquire some non-perishable food items. Enough so it would seem like they were preparing to leave the city for the capital but nothing that would spoil anytime soon. They left the city through the main gate going through the usual traffic on the city's main thoroughfare. Hamsuke trailed behind them as the midday crowds had to part way for him to pass through the streets.

Beyond the city, there was a small hill overlooking the main gate a ways off. The paved royal road led up the hill and at the top of it was a single tree providing shade for would-be travelers. Tri'ade's group gathered at the tree once they were out of the city.

The Shadow Demons and the Hanzo Tri'ade had as perimeter guards reported no sighting of anyone trying to follow them or spy upon them. Tri'ade was confident this was the case because of the Hanzo's abilities to counter stealth opponents. They had cost him a good deal of gold to summon but the level eighty ninja monsters were a necessary addition to Nazarick's covert force. Given the information they had acquired from the Theocracy, Shadow Demons might not be enough to counter the abilities of all natives of this world. As such, most of the teams operating outside of Nazarick had their teams of shadow demons supplemented with at least a few Hanzos.

Before he readied himself to open a Gateway to Re-Estize a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"[Uh, Lord Tri'ade?]"

"[Yes, Mare? What is it?]"

"[I've learned important information about the giant tree.]"

Mare told Tri'ade that the giant demon tree's name was Zy'tl Q'ae and recounted much of what he had heard from his new administrator previously. But more than that, Mare told him that a group of adventurers had come previously to fight it and had defeated only a part of it. That somehow, the demon tree was so massive that it only partially awoke to fight the adventurers. Tri'ade didn't understand that bit. One was either awake or not... But then again, he wasn't a three hundred foot tall monster.

More importantly, apparently Zy'tl Q'ae was due to awaken soon and the adventurers that promised to return to the Dryad to finish the job they started never did. Which had left the Demon Tree to slumber until it was properly awakened once again to feed. That day was fast approaching if what Mare told him was true.

If Zy'tl Q'ae's sleep cycle was anything like a bear's hibernation period then it would have to gorge itself after it had awakened or risk starving. There would be no reasoning with it. Anything within reach would be considered food. Given the immense size of the Demon Tree, it could feasibly eat the entire forest of Tob in its ravenous appetite.

Tri'ade could not allow this. Not after investing so much time in subjugating the denizens of the forest and the construction of his castle. Not with the Forest of Tob being so close to the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

"[You did well to inform me of this, Mare. Drop whatever anti-divination protections you have so I can find you. I'll be arriving shortly.]"

"[Y-yes! W-we will be here for you.]"

Turning to Peter and the rest of Darkness Tri'ade clapped his hands and said to his companions, "Well, change of plans. Got a detour to make."

"What is it?" asked Dyne.

"Well, a giant demon tree from the time of the Demon Gods is waking up. Gotta put it down before it goes on a rampage."

"Huh?!" said Lukrut with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"What!?" spat out Peter. "Are you serious?!"

"Very. I mean it's slept for centuries, so you can imagine how hungry it is."

Hamsuke clutched at his stomach. "I verily can, milord! Slept for a week this one did and when I awoke, it felt like some knave had carved out my stomach. So much pain."

"The old tales did say the Thirteen Heroes did seal some of the Demon Gods away rather than defeating them." Ninya recounted.

"Yes, so we have to clean up the mess they left us with. Rather lazy of them to leave a job half finished."

"We?! You are not thinking of taking us along with you, are you, lord? We are nowhere near ready to face a Demon God."

Glaring at Lukrut, Narberal was visibly angry at him for what he had just said.

"After everything Lord Tri'ade has done, you would defy him?! You will do as you are told and like it, worm!"

Lukrut along with the other members of Darkness recoiled from Narberal's gaze. No wonder Lukrut wasn't hitting on Narberal as he used to. Lust was replaced by fear. He had hoped Narberal learned by now how to get along with others. It appeared to be a vain hope.

"Enough!" Tri'ade loudly ordered.

The silent gazes of everyone turned towards Tri'ade as he raised his voice. Which made him a bit nervous. To calm himself down he took a deep breath before speaking.

"Narberal. I gave my word to these humans they could refuse me if they so wished. You will not tarnish it. Understood?"

"I-I... Understood, my lord."

Directing his gaze back to Lukrut and the rest of the human members of Darkness, he said, "I apologize for her behavior. It seems I've forgotten to explain to her the conditions of your service."

"No! We're the ones who should apologize." Peter punched Lukrut in the shoulder.

"Lukrut speaks before he thinks. You know how he is." Dyne said cooly.

Tri'ade felt a little pity for Lukrut, seeing his friends turn against him.

"You will not fight. It was just... a slip of the tongue. I don't want you to needlessly die."

"Milord is most benevolent!"

"Right, of course. What was I thinking? Ha-aha." Lukrut scratched his head.

"It would be more convenient if you came with me though. And aren't you at least a bit curious?"

"Huh?"

"This Demon Tree fought against the Thirteen Heroes. Hell, it might even still have scars from the Black Knight's blades."

Ninya looked to Dyne with an excited look. "You don't think it might have a Blade of Darkness?"

"Anything is possible."

"Don't get your hopes up too much. We'll search the body afterward though to make sure."

While they were talking, Tri'ade cast a divination spell to locate Mare and after that [Gate]. A black obsidian portal opened before him. Tri'ade went in first followed by the rest of Darkness trailing behind him like a shadow.

* * *

 _ **Eastern Tob Forest**_

Mare was standing between the green foliage of the Forest of Tob when his master stepped forth from the obsidian black portal. Alongside Mare's lithe frame was another being. Pinison Pol Perlia was a dryad native to the Forest of Tob that Mare happened across when investigating the Demon Tree for his master. Mare never noticed her approach until she came out of her tree to talk to him. Desperate for help the Dryad told Mare everything she knew of the Demon Tree.

Pinison was shocked by the appearance of the portal and what came out of it. A man encased in black and golden armor wearing a golden mask which had numerous spikes rising up like metal thorns to the sky adored his head. His imposing presence left no doubt in the mind of the Dryad that this one was who the Dark Elf was waitingfor. Following behind him were humans in armor which she could feel the magic of. Reminding her of the adventurers that once swore to return to defeat Zy'tl Q'ae once and for all. Those that never came back to the forest again.

She could feel the eyes of Mare's Master as he turned towards her, penetrating her from head to toe with his gaze as he did so.

"So this is the Dryad you told me about?"

"Y-yes! Lord Tri'ade. She's been very helpful."

To Tri'ade, this dryad was the first thing of interest that his eyes came across when the darkness from his vision faded. Part of him hoped the Dryads of this world would resemble the sexy nymphs of legend, but no, they had the same appearance as Dryads did in the game of Yggdrasil. Further evidence in his mind that this world was seeded with life from Yggdrasil.

"Oh shi-!" Peter cried out.

Hamsuke bumped into Peter as he stepped forth from the Gate. While the Gate grew to accommodate the large hamster monster, Peter didn't move quickly enough. Hamsuke blinded by his travel through the gate moved forward and with his large build easily pushed Peter to the ground. In his full plate of armor, Peter's crash was loud with the sound of clanging metal ringing throughout the forest.

"Ah! A thousand apologies! I did not see you!"

A hand was offered to help Peter up. After all, it can be difficult to get up from a prone position when wearing heavy plate. It was Tri'ade's hand that reached out to assist the adventurer.

"Be careful. Teleportation can make you vulnerable."

Getting back on his feet, Peter placed his hand on his head. He was somewhat dazed from hitting his forehead upon his adamantite helmet when he fell.

"R-Right. Thank you, Lord."

"I'm sure everyone will get used to it in time." Tri'ade looked at Hamsuke when he said this.

"Milord, my sincerest apologies. I did not desire to be left behind I did. In my haste did I blunder."

Tri'ade ignored the giant hamster. It was true that he had forgotten about him in E-Rantel. Dyne was the one that had to remind him to retrieve him from the stables he had been staying at. The Golden Pavillion, of course, couldn't accommodate a creature his size. Rather than Hamsuke, he shifted his attention to the Dryad.

"My name is Tri'ade and these are my companions. I've heard from Mare that you require our help?"

"Yes! I need you to find the seven that came before. They promised to defeat the arbor mala that would destroy the world."

 _Arbor Mala? Tree of Evil? That's latin why does the magic translate it that way…?_

"You mean Zy'tl Q'ae?"

"Ah, right... that's what the Seven named it."

"What do these seven people look like?"

"Three young humans, one tall person, one old human, one person with wings, one dwarf."

 _That doesn't sound like any adventuring group I've heard of. A dwarf and a winged person?_

"How long ago was this?"

"Many sunrises have passed."

 _Sunrises?! She has that sort of concept of time. I've heard of people counting the passing of seasons but this..._

"Sorry, I don't know that group of Seven. But perhaps we can defeat the Arbor Mala instead?"

"Ehhh?! Defeat it? You guys? The enemy is an evil tree that's capable of destroying the world! Even the seven-member group that came last time had a real struggle fighting part of it!"

"What other option is there? I was under the impression the evil tree is about to awaken. We don't have time to search for this band of seven."

"Eh-Mm... No choice but to hope a powerful dragon shows up?" the dryad sorrowfully pled.

"And If that doesn't happen?" asked Tri'ade.

"Ehhh? hmmm. Guess I'll have to give up. After all, It's impossible for me to be away from my tree for too long."

"Well, don't despair. Your hopes are answered. While I might not be a powerful dragon I am a powerful magic caster. One that has killed dragons."

"What?! Really?! Impossible! Dragons are the most powerful race there is!"

Nodding at her, Tri'ade pointed to the red leather portions of his armor protecting his lower abdomen. It was the armor underneath the dark metal plates with elaborate gold markings covering his chest and other areas.

"See this? It's Red Dragon Scale Leather."

Looking over to Mare he pointed to him.

"Mare's outfit also has Blue Dragon Scale Leather. My group was the one that killed the Dragons these scales came from."

 _Misleading but still true. I doubt Peter and his friends could tangle with a dragon but Ainz Ooal Gown did back in the old days to farm for rare drops. Of course, this Dryad doesn't know that._

With wide green eyes Pinison looked closely at the red dragon scales Tri'ade showed her and darted over to Mare to inspect his sleeves.

"So you see. We can handle it."

Pinison looked over at Peter before turning the gaze of her solid green eyes back to Tri'ade.

"You guys do look rather skilled. Eh- and your right, there is not much choice. The Evil Tree should awaken by the next sunrise or the one after... Or it might be even later but soon it will revive in its complete form."

"So you'll accept our help?"

"Yes, but well, the probability of you guys winning against the evil tree is still low. It would be best if you found others to help too."

"There are others I can call upon if the need arises. But there's something I'd like to ask you. You said before you can't be away from your tree for long. If your tree moved to a different place would you need to move with it?"

"Huh? For a human, you ask a strange question. But yes, I need to enter my tree to rest."

"Well, I would like to have you move to my home. It's away from the forest and you would be safe there if we have trouble defeating the evil tree."

"Haah?!"

"Waah?"

Mare and Pinson both gasped at Tri'ade's proposal.

"L-Lord... Tri'ade, is it really okay for this d-dryad to stay in Nazarick?"

"Mare. Is there something wrong about me inviting her into our home?"

"A-Ah, n-no... If that is your command."

"Tell me if you have an objection, Mare. Pinison will be under your care on the sixth floor after all."

"I haven't decided anything yet..."

"W-Well, it's just that... s-shes not a servant of the Supreme Beings."

"We've had guests before..."

 _Granted they were relatives of our guild-members so we could trust them. Still, I want the NPCs to be able to make friends of people from outside the Great Tomb if at all possible. Narberal is failing but maybe the twins can succeed._

"But I will expect her to earn her keep. I'd like to get her to do some gardening on your floor."

"O-Oh! That's no problem at all."

"So what do you say…? Huh, I never got your name. You do have a name?"

"Yes, it's Pinison Pol Perlia."

"Pinison, become my gardener and I'll ensure that no matter what happens, you'll be safe."

"Ehh, well, it would be good to be able to evacuate. I don't want to wither and die here along with the rest of the forest."

Pensively, Pinison looked at Mare and then to Tri'ade.

"I don't mind becoming a gardener but you have to give my tree tasty water and proper sunshine ,alright? Also don't place my tree anyplace with parasitic creatures! That's a deal breaker."

"You don't ask for much... I accept your terms."

Tri'ade reached out his hand and they shook on it.

"Now where's your tree? We probably should move it before we fight the giant evil tree."

Pinison blinked and then moved away from Tri'ade while waving him over.

"This way!"

The group of them followed Pinison the Dryad until they came upon an ancient oak tree with a large trunk that towered over the smaller trees surrounding it. Nothing nearly as large as the giant behemoth described as the evil tree of the forest but it showed how long it has resided within the Forest of Tob. It's branches gnarled up to the sky catching the sun's rays and casting shadows on the otherwise clear glade of the wood it resided in.

"There it is. huh, How do you plan to move my tree?"

Looking upon it Tri'ade was glad to have magic. It would have been a herculean task to move the Dryad's tree otherwise.

"Magic of course. Mare, I'll open a portal to the sixth floor. Please make some room for her tree."

"Y-yes, Lord Tri'ade!"

Removing one of his rings and bringing out the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown from his inventory he equipped it. With it so equipped he could bypass the teleportation wards on the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

"[Gate]"

An all too familiar obsidian portal open up before him with Mare going into it. Soon afterward he got an all-clear from Mare that space had been made for the large oak tree. Walking up to the tree he placed his hands upon it to cast another spell.

"[Teleport Object]"

It was a seventh tier magical spell meant as its name implies to teleport objects. The weight limit is dependent on the strength of the caster. Tri'ade could only hope that the tree would reach its destination safely. He had not experimented using teleport object on something as large as it before. The tree shimmered in the light as it disappeared from the forest.

"Haah?! It's gone!"

As Pinison freaked out, Tri'ade got a message from Mare.

"[My lord!]"

"[What is it, Mare?]"

"[T-the tree! I-it's here b-but.. all of its roots are laying on top of the ground!]"

"[Huh? Calm down. Can you use [Move Earth] to plant it?]"

"[...]"

"[Mare?]"

"[O-Of c-course, Lord Tri'ade. P-Please, forgive me. No doubt you thought of this when you sent me here.]"

Tri'ade could almost feel Mare kneeling to him as he spoke with reverence over the [Message] spell.

"[It's no problem. No harm, no foul, right? The tree is alright, isn't it?]

"[Yes! It's planted]"

"What happened to my tree?!"

"It's been teleported to my home. I thought this was what you wanted?"

"Huh?! You can do that?"

"I am a powerful magic caster. I wouldn't challenge the evil tree otherwise. If we can't defeat it, we can simply retreat and devise a new strategy."

"[Should I wait for you here, Lord Tri'ade?"]

"[Ah no. I'll open a portal with the same location as the last one. I need you back here.]"

"[Y-Yes, Lord Tri'ade! I'll be there right away!"]

Once more a Gate opened and Mare stepped forth from it clutching at his skirt as he hurried to Tri'ade's side.

"Alright! Now that we have that dealt with, how about we see the evil tree? Lead the way, Pinison."

"Me?! Why do I have to lead the way?"

"You're the one that wanted us to defeat the Arbor Mala. Can't really do that if we can't find it."

"Right." The dryad had a sullen look on her face as she accepted her fate as their guide to the giant world destroying monstrosity. "Follow me..."

* * *

 _ **Northern Tob Forest**_

When the group of adventurers led by their Dryad guide reached the northern portion of the forest where the evil tree dwelled, their surroundings gradually transformed. Transformed into a desolate field of withered trees and other plant life. As far as they could see, there were trees bereft of leaves and the ground itself was covered in blonde grass rather than the healthy green grass they were used to seeing in other portions of the forest.

Littering the ground were leaves from all the trees as if it were in late autumn. Many of the leaves on the ground were dry and shriveled and had turned color away from a healthy shade of green. It was clear they had been on the floor of the forest for some time. The group's heavy footsteps leaving a crunching sound wherever they walked as the layers of decaying leaves were compressed beneath their weight.

"Here, this is the place." Their guide seemed disturbed by the sight of the withering plant life. To her, it was like viewing an open burial pit.

"It definitely looks like the trees are dying. But where is the giant tree?"

"A-Ahead. It is at the center of the desolation."

"Alright, Let's proceed carefully. We don't know when the tree will wake up."

The group walked ahead through the forest of withered and twisted trees until they heard the loud sound of trees being forcefully uprooted from the earth and groaning wood. A large branch like tentacle grabbed a group of trees like it were a bouquet of flowers and deposited them into the cavernous maw of a gigantic tree ahead of them.

"Uwwa...That thing... is huge...!" cried Mare.

"Yes, Aura was right. It is bigger than Gargantua."

This tree was no doubt Zy'tl Q'ae, known as Arbor Mala, the evil tree of the forest. It reminded Tri'ade of the Deku Tree from the Legend of Zelda Dark Prince video game, (the latest installment in the long series of games), but far more evil looking. Its mouth was filled with numerous razor-sharp spikes, looking like a predator's teeth. The tree also seemed to have at least six of those tentacle-like branches it was using to uproot trees to consume.

"T-T-The main body has come back to life! W-We're doomed!" cried a fear-stricken Pinison.

"T-Tis enormous." stammered the obviously nervous Hamsuke.

"How is Tri'ade supposed to fight that thing?!" asked Peter.

"It does look to be around a hundred meters tall but those tentacles are another thing entirely." Tri'ade commented calmly. "Three hundred meters at the very least on them."

"What are you analyzing so calmly?! W-Wh-What are we to do..." Pinison screamed in her hysteria.

"Mare. Send a message to Albedo, Shalltear, and Cocytus. Tell them to get ready for deployment on the sixth-floor arena. We might need them if Zy'tl Q'ae puts up a serious fight."

Nodding, Mare cast the spell and got the message out to the Floor Guardians in the Great Tomb to make themselves ready.

"A serious fight?!" Lukyut exclaimed. "You got to be kidding! We need to get out of here right now! I'd never thought it would be something that massive! There's nothing we can do about it now!"

[Life Essence][Mana Essence]

With both spells cast, Tri'ade could now see the enemy's health and mana as auras. The HP this giant tree had was colossal in scope, not even Gargantua could compare. But it didn't have a discernible magical aura about it. If Aura were here she might be able to use one of her abilities to more precisely gauge its strength, but she wasn't present.

Tri'ade's hands were trembling. Not in fear but in excitement. He had the feeling this was going to be an interesting fight unlike the others he'd had since coming to this New World. He nearly leaped into action when he had heard of Zesshi. Perhaps it had something to do with the demon blood running through his veins? Or was it just that he had all this incredible power at his fingertips, yet nothing to unleash it upon? Now faced with an enemy who could take it and might be able to dish it out as well he was excited and a bit anxious.

"Narberal!"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Stay with the others here. Attack any of the tentacles that try to go after them. Mare, you're with me. Focus on providing magical support."

"R-Right!"

With that Tri'ade and Mare used [Fly] to speed off in the direction of the Evil Tree, Zy'tl Q'ae. The wind blowing past their ears made it difficult to hear the commotion they left behind.

"W-W-Wait! They're not really going to fight that monstrosity, are they? That thing will rip them apart! We'll be in a mess if we don't run away right now!" pled the terrified dryad.

"Be quiet you termite! Be grateful that you're being allowed to witness a Supreme Being fight."

"Ugh..!" squeaked the dryad at Narberal's fierce reprimand.

"Pinison was it?" asked Peter with confidence in his voice. "I know it looks bad, but Lord Tri'ade can handle this."

"Yeah, it was his plan all along to take this Demon God himself." said Ninya.

"Waah?! You are kidding me! Just look at the size difference! If he gets hit by that thing it'll crush him in an instant!" protested Pinison.

"QUIET!" Narberal angrily ordered.

Narberal glared at Pinison with bloodlust in her eyes this time that sent a chill down her spine so cold she couldn't stop shivering.

"Listen to her. She loves our Lord. You won't survive if you say such things."

Narberal's cheeks turned a bright scarlet red as she turned to Lukrut.

"Yes, I love him! Lord Tri'ade is the last Supreme Being that still graces our pathetic lives with his majesty. Leeches like you wouldn't understand."

Lukrut winced at being called a leech and Peter became crestfallen. Unlike all the others that Narberal threw their way, this was the first insult that struck home.

"H-Hey now! We know Lord Tri'ade's greatness. We've not ungrateful."

"Yeah... I wish I had met a benevolent Lord like him earlier. Maybe my sister would never have been taken away."

"Supreme Being, huh?" Dyne scratched his chin in thought.

A bright light was shown in the sky above them. From what Ninya could tell, there were arcane sigils of some kind formed in the area around it.

"What kind of magic is that?" asked Ninya.

"Super-Tier Magic."

Narberal answered Ninya's question. Meanwhile, up above them Tri'ade contemplated upon the spell he was about to use against the hundred meters tall demon tree.

 _I haven't used Super-Tier magic since I arrived in this New World. Who knows what might happen. Still, it's a good chance to test something else out too._

Pulling out of his inventory an hourglass looking item. It was a cash shop item. Tri'ade had countless of these in storage at Nazarick. They were vital guild resources since they would reduce the casting time of Super-Tier Magic to zero. Using them was the only reliable way to use the magic in the middle of combat. If it worked just as well in the New World as it did in YGGDRASIL, these would be a priceless resource. Especially given the fact that there was no way to replicate these even in the in-game crafting system. Unlike Demiurge's efforts with scroll parchment, there would be no suitable replacements for cash items.

Knowing that,, he crushed the hourglass in his hands shattering it. The light of the super-tier magic around him grew in intensity as he invoked the spell's name.

"[Meteor Shower!]"

Dozens of bright lights could be seen in the evening sky. Their light streaked across the sky crashing down onto the colossal trunk of the demon tree Zy'tl Q'ae, exploding in the cascading light of the fire and splintering, flame-engulfed wood. The shockwaves of the explosions knocked down nearby trees surrounding the behemoth monstrosity of a tree and the sound was deafening. Behind all that, Zy'tl Q'ae with its massive maw could be heard wailing in pain as the fire began to spread across its body.

Gazing upon this sight of the demon tree burning, Tri'ade could only laugh maniacally at the sight of the destructive power he unleashed.

Normally, Meteor Storm was a large area effect spell. Unlike the tenth tier spell, Meteor Fall which allowed you to choose the precise place where it would land, Meteor Storm was more like a shotgun spread of numerous smaller meteors. While you could widen or narrow the spread it could never get small enough to guarantee the full barrage of meteors hitting a single target.

But, the shitty developers never anticipated players fighting an opponent of Zy'tl Q'ae's sheer size. No opponent of its size had been implemented as an opponent in-game. At least to Tri'ade's knowledge. Thanks to its own colossal body nearly all of the meteors called down from the heavens hit the demon tree, dealing massive damage.

Considering his opponent's health bar was beyond his ability to measure Tri'ade thought it wise to open with the strongest spell possible against it. While he was eager for a fight he resisted the urge to be reckless and used [Life Essense] once more to check on its health.

Its health was still relatively high all things considered but it was decreasing steadily. This must have been a result of the flames spreading across the body of the giant tree. Meteor Storm didn't normally cause damage over time like that in YGGDRASIL, so that was new.

Before he could observe anything more, one of Zy'tl Q'ae's wooden tentacles swiped at him. The tentacle itself, like its host body, was massive. Its diameter was larger than Tri'ade was tall. Tri'ade drew his Adamantite Greatsword and did a downward slash at the thing intending to cut it in half. The blade only cut through a few feet of the wooden tentacle before it recoiled in pain, retracting its outstretched limb.

The groaning demon tree began to slap itself with its own tentacles. Tri'ade was confused at first but when he saw patches of flames begin to dissipate from the frame of the tree he understood what it was doing. It was trying to smother the flames on its body.

Tri'ade would need to put a stop to that. However, he would need a better blade to cut the tentacles. So he put his adamantite greatsword back into his inventory and drew out his main weapon, the Holy Moonlight Sword.

"Mare, boost my strength!"

"Yes, Lord!"

"[Greater Giant's Strength!]"

Still being several hundred meters away from the demon tree Tri'ade wanted to close the distance quickly without being swatted at.

"[Time Stop]"

The world around him stopped and turned grey in color. Of course, the demon tree didn't have proper time countermeasures being the mindless beast that it was. Flying to one of the tentacles with ease Tri'ade cast another spell.

"[Delay Twin Reality Slash]"

The normal flow of time soon returned and with it, the great demon tree screamed in pain as the curved twin lights of reality slash cut through the tentacle-like limb. With that severing one of the six great demon tree's tentacles dropped to the forest floor.

"That works. Time to do some trimming!"

[Zephyr's Flight!]

This tier sixth spell was an improved version of the [Fly] spell. This enabled the caster to fly twice as fast in the air as it would with the [Fly] Spell. So it was a valuable spell for those wishing to fight in the air. Most players didn't do so of course due to fear of being sniped at by other players so it was rarely used. Also unlike [Fly], it had a duration time limit while [Fly] could be used as long as the caster had mana so players using it had to be aware of it while using it.

The demon tree itself seemed to have gotten faster too. It began furiously swinging its tentacles at Tri'ade trying to swat him away like a buzzing gnat. With Zephyr's Flight though, he managed to dodge and weave around the tentacles while swiping his glowing sword across their bark eliciting cries of pain from the creature whenever he did so.

As one of the several meters long tentacles swayed in the air, Tri'ade landed on it and impaled the creature with a few inches of his blade. Rather than shoving his blade deeper, he ran along the length of the creature's limb pushing the blade as he went. Another one of the tentacles lashed out at him as he did this and he jumped off, avoiding it as the creature's limbs collided with each other.

Diving down to avoid the reach of the great demon tree's limbs, he came closer to the mouth of the gluttonous monstrosity.

"Eat this!"

"[Triplet Maximize Magic Vermilion Nova!]"

Three pillars of flame spewed forth in front of Tri'ade and straight into the mouth of the creature. The light of the flames lit up its cavernous maw. It took a while for his spell to hit anything traveling within the behemoth. Tri'ade had for a moment thought the tree had taken his words literally and ate his spell. But the creature screeched in pain showing him that his spell was in fact too hot for its taste.

While it was fun weaving through the air and dodging its attacks, it didn't allow him to get in close to land a solid hit with his sword and the continuous use of spells was draining. So he changed tactics and used one of his skills.

"[Frost of Judecca]"

Ice began to form thick blocks around the entirety of the giant demon tree freezing it in place until it resembled less of a tree and more like a glacier of ice. Rather than immediately attacking as he intended, Tri'ade was distracted by the thick smell of smoke.

"Woah!"

Looking around the forest was in flames. The withered trees made for ideal kindling for all the fire Tri'ade had brought down on top of Qy'tl Q'ae's. It was the start of a wildfire.

 _Oh shit! Of course, the fire would spread! This isn't a game anymore!"_

"Mare! New Plan! I need you and Darkness to put these fires out."

"Y-Yes, Lord Tri'ade... B-But how?"

"A-Ahh... Summon some rain, smother it, blow the fire out. Wait..."

"[Message]...[Gate]"

 _"Cocytus, I need you here. We got a bit of a fire problem here. I want you to use your frost aura to contain it."_

 _"I. Live. To. Serve."_ answered the insectoid warrior.

Rain began to fall as the weather changed at Mare's command. Dark Clouds appeared overhead as the NPCs went to work battling the flames. As soon as Tri'ade thought he had a handle on the situation the ice sheets containing Zy'tl Qae cracked and began to fall off.

 _That should have held it longer. Must've used an ability._

"[Life Essence]"

Checking to see the creature's health once he saw it was greatly diminished. In fact, Zy'tl Qae's health was low enough that if it was hit by another Super-Tier spell it would likely die. But Tri'ade couldn't cast another Super-Tier spell yet. Unlike regular spells, it was more like a special ability and it was still on cooldown.

However, there was one spell he knew that could match a Super-Tier spell in damage potential and this time he wouldn't have to use an hourglass to use it. All things come with a price however but Tri'ade was willing to pay it. He had spent enough time playing around with the Evil Tree and had other things he needed to do.

"[Vengeful Gaze of God!]"

An aura of white light surrounded Tri'ade and his eyes began to shine light several times brighter than the sun. Until that is the light of his eyes focused into two continuous beams of searing white light that bore into the great demon tree, Zy'tl Qae. It screamed in agony and aimlessly flailed its two remaining tentacles in random directions.

"Die!" Tri'ade fiercely cried out.

The streams of white light continued to bombard the tree and where it struck it disintegrated as the area around it turned into sawdust. The longer the continuous beams of light struck the colossal tree more of its body was turned into it until nothing remained. The sawdust landed upon the forest floor in a massive pile.

Once the spell was complete, the light faded. Tri'ade's body was sweltering hot and the radiant heat produced visible steam spewing forth from his body. He could see his breath as if it were a cold winter's day but it was closer to summer than winter. Rain continued to pour and the rain droplets evaporated as they landed upon him.

Tri'ade's sight was slowly returning to him. He wanted to rub his eyes but his armor made it difficult so he blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted.

"[Greater Heal]"

Light once more enveloped Tri'ade, but it was the light of positive energy. Doing its work it healed the damage he sustained and cooled his body to a less smoldering temperature.

[Vengeful Gaze of God] was a Tier Ten spell. Unlike other spells, it could be channeled dealing more disintegration damage as time went on. It even rivaled Super-Tier magic in damage output. However, it came with several drawbacks. The first being you were blinded while using the spell. This made the caster vulnerable in combat and percentage of the damage done to the enemy would be done to the caster as "backlash". There was also the fact that if the opponent's physical defense was high enough it would halve the initial damage output giving the target more time to react.

Still, it was one of the highest DPS of any spell in YGGDRASIL and you had to complete a special quest chain to acquire it. Of course, it was best used in conjunction with other players providing the caster backup both in healing and protection. Not many parties could afford to divide their healer's attention between the tank and a caster but those who did manage to achieve ridiculous amounts of damage output. Most people who encountered the spell usually had their parties retreat out of sight if they could. That would force the caster to stop channeling the spell.

Punitto Moe, if he were here, would be berating him for being so reckless. Casting that spell while in the middle of the air without support would be suicidal back in YGGDRASIL. Punitto probably would have been right to do so but Tri'ade felt confident he could get away with it.

Everything he saw in the New World convinced him there were few if any who could even hurt him let alone beat him. As with the spell, he was the only one that could hurt himself. The NPCs could easily do it if a few of them ganged up on him but given how servile they were, it was hard to imagine that happening. Perhaps that could change with time...

* * *

 _ **Afterword**_

There we go! 12,000 plus words of a chapter minus all the author dialogue. It was going to be longer with this chapter, but I figured I could add the next scene to be the first one of the NEXT chapter.

A lot of the material in the latter bit of this chapter is inspired by the Overlord Drama CD's side stories not shown in the Anime or Light Novels. So I hoped many weren't too lost by it. I did heavily foreshadow the Demon Tree being a thing in this fanfiction by earlier references to it.

Neat little theory about Ainz's job in acquiring the Herb that grows on top of the Demon tree. It's believed to have been commissioned by the Theocracy to be used to cure Kaire of her otherwise incurable injuries that were inflicted upon her by Shalltear. I rather enjoy thinking that's the case, so no job offers for Tri'ade for it in this alternative fanfiction! :)

I also had fun making up spells and such for the battle between the demon tree and Tri'ade. I had the idea for the Meteor Shower being a Super-Tier spell for the longest time. Never had the chance to use it before now. Same for the Vengeful Gaze of God spell, though it's taken from the DnD Epic Spell of the same name. With a few additions here and there.

Zephyr's Flight was added cause I always thought Shalltear and other characters flight animations were often so slow in the anime. They felt more like levitation most of the time than actual Flight. Zooming and whooshing around. Plus in DnD when one wears armor it greatly decreases the speed one flies at and it's only a tier three spell. YGGDRASIL, I figured, must have had higher tier flying magic.

Well, I've rambled on enough. Next Chapter will deal with the aftermath of the battle with the demon tree, the reunion between Ninya and her Sister, and hopefully, I can squeeze in the lizardmen. Fun fact this chapter's working title was called "Lizardmen".

Don't worry, I don't plan on revisiting their pathetic lives and devote an entire chapter on lizardmen sex. No matter how much you beg for it. But I do plan on writing out the alternative scenario on how they get subjugated.

Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out quicker next time, but no promises. I really want to focus on improving the quality of my writing. To that end, if any of you wish to become beta readers and help correct grammar, etc. Please send me a message.

I hoped you guys enjoyed this update. Please become a follower and leave a review.

*Edited by PervySageChuck 01/29/2019


	18. Volume 3: Chapter 5: Reunion

**Volume 3: Darkness: Chapter** _ **5 Reunion**_

 _ **Northern Forest of Tob**_

From the pile of sawdust that was Zy'tl Q'ae a bright orb of blue light appeared shining through the dark. This curious light began to move. Tri'ade followed it as he floated to the ground as the magic of Zephyr's Flight faded.

Chasing after the blue orb he entered a part of the forest that looked like it was in the middle of winter with trees caked with frost crystals. Cocytus's work. Soon enough he came to a glade within the forest where he saw Darkness and the NPC's gathered. The blue orb floated over to Mare and into the world item Avarice.

 _Blue Orbs? I never saw any graphics like that when using Avarice and Generosity before. Must have been some sort of manifestation of the experience points._

When they noticed him arrive all of them began to kneel. It surprised Tri'ade but Darkness kneeled in unison with the NPC's. They had never done that before. Pinison was the only one that kneeled with shaking knees. Obviously afraid of what Tri'ade was capable of after seeing him obliterate what she had feared could destroy the world.

"Congratulations on your victory, Master."

"I-It really was amazing!" Mare said enthusiastically.

"A. Glorious. Victory." Cocytus said with his mandibles clicking together.

"Yeah, it was incredible."

"I see why Narberal calls you a Supreme Being."

Tri'ade averted his eyes from those praising him. He still wasn't used to being showered with praise like this. Now with the humans joining in it was a bit much. "Ah, thank you... Rise, please raise your heads."

Everyone slowly began to get up from their knees and stand up. Tri'ade pointed to Mare.

"I see Avarice is working. I followed the...energy."

"O-Oh right Yes! The energy... Shall I transfer it to you, my Lord?" Mare said as he raised his hands towards Tri'ade.

"No. I have little use for it."

 _While it would help recover what I used to make Clementine a slave it wouldn't help me level up. It's still the experience of a monster at least fifteen levels below me._

Looking at Ninya his thoughts drifted.

 _Ninya does have that talent of hers allowing her to "learn" magician skills at twice the speed. Does that translate to a halved exp cost to taking magician levels or all arcane classes? Either way, if there is a level cap for natives she would reach it first._

"What was that energy? I've never seen anything like it." Ninya asked in curiosity.

"Huh, it's...how do I explain it?"

 _Calling it experience doesn't make sense out of the context of the game. Experience isn't some material thing that can be formed into energy... What to call it then... Wait! When I asked around in the Guild about Blue Rose they said their leader's resurrection magic had a side effect to it... That it drained your "life force"._

"It's life force from the Demon God I turned into sawdust."

Scratching his head, Lukrut asked: "Huh, what's life force?"

Looking back to Ninya, Tri'ade hoped she could chime in to explain things to Lakrut. But she stared at him with a blank look on her face. It appeared even Ninya didn't know what life force was either.

 _Oh, come on! I used the same term the adventurers used at the Guild. You guys should know of it. But then... these guys didn't know Lakyrus of Blue Rose had one of the Swords of Darkness... and they were also lower ranked adventurers…_

Sighing, Tri'ade tried to explain it using what he knew which wasn't much. "Life Force is... well it is... it's the energy that carries your experiences and animates you. If you run out of it using low tier resurrection magic your body turns to dust."

Scratching his beard Dyne pondered in thought then remarked, "Sounds like it's your spirit, your soul."

 _What? No! Maybe? Huh._

"Oh, so that was the Demon God's soul!" Peter exclaimed as he pointed to the huge pile of sawdust.

 _I guess that is a good enough name... For now at least. Not like I really know what it is._

"Only a fraction of it. Some energy is released when something dies in battle. Normally that energy is absorbed by the victor. But Mare's gauntlets can manipulate the flow of energy."

"Wait... Does that mean a part of my soul went to that sadistic bitch?!" Lukrut said realizing the implications of their past encounter with Clementine.

Ninya winced by that reminder of Clementine and the time she got tortured. She touched her face around the eyeball that Clementine gouged out. Peter put a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"Yes, Lakrut, yes it does. But only a bit of it. You also get bits everytime you kill something. It's part of the process of... growing in power. Gain enough soul energy and your soul can expand in a process called leveling up."

"What exactly does leveling up entail?" Ever curious Dyne asked that simple question.

 _"_ You've already done it multiple times. Basically, all your attributes are improved. Health, Mana if you are a magic caster, strength etc. How much is improved really depends on the individual. Like for Peter, his physical stats would take priority but for Ninya her magical stats would improve more."

Looking at his hands and his arms Peter had grown quiet muscular since he swore fealty to Tri'ade. "I have gotten a lot stronger. I thought it was just from all the exercise."

 _"_ That is part of it but even if you got fat you'd be stronger than most. Lifeforce, the Soul... whatever you wish to call it. It is the energy that animates the body. Strengthening it improves yourself in all aspects."

Patting Mare's head he made him an example to the non-NPCs.

"Mare should have a weak body. He's small, thin, no muscle whatsoever. But this little guy could crush an ogre's skull with his bare hands. His high level is the source of that strength."

"Hehehe" While Mare was overjoyed with the attention his master was giving him, the non-NPCs went wide-eyed.

The poor dryad who was their latest member could barely keep up with all of this new and unbelievable information. "Waah, this is beyond me. This day is crazy! Full of impossibilities! You turned the demon tree into a pile of dust! Now you're saying this little dark elf is that strong?! I don't know what to think anymore..."

The giant hamster that was Hamsuke comforted the Dryad next to her. "Ye get used to it. Milord and his servants are all incredibly strong. To think this was because of their strong souls! Amazing."

Looking at his mace Dyne spoke to himself. "So that's why... Heroes and monsters feed off death like predators."

"Partly. It's not just quantity but quality. Heroes tend to risk much to put down monsters with powerful souls."

Placing his free hand on his chest Dyne spoke up for Tri'ade to hear. "Of course. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. But if you don't mind. I have another question."

"What is it?"

The rugged druid's brow furrowed as he asked his question. "How many have you killed?"

"Hmm, as of today? Let see. Escape. Character. Statistics."

Using what he had learned in using the Mirror of Remote Viewing Tri'ade used verbal command prompts to bring up his Character Sheet and Player Statistics. It took a lot of trial and error to find what verbal command prompted the menu to appear. If he didn't play so many old games for free using antiquated controllers he probably would never have guessed Escape would be the trigger word.

Looking at the menu, the logout button was missing among other options. But it didn't matter... Even if he could somehow log out he wouldn't want to. Visual Screens popped up in front of Tri'ade surprising everyone around him. An orange tinted screen with white lettering in Japanese displayed the numerous statistics, relevant to his character. Tri'ade scrolled down the list until he got to the kills statistic.

It was subdivided by type of kills including down to the specific number of a race he had killed, classes, etc. But above all the divisions was the sum total. He read it aloud for everyone to hear.

"Four million, five hundred fifty-eight thousand, sixty-nine. I'm counting all lives equally so before the Demon God I was on four million, five hundred fifty-eight thousand, sixty-eight."

It was a big number but it didn't surprise Tri'ade. He had been playing with his character Tri'ade since vanilla YGGDRASIL. He had been grinding not only for EXP, but loot and rare drops for twelve years. Whenever there was a new expansion that came out he had to get to the level cap and replace all of his gear. Not to mention needing to kill monsters to explore new content and to acquire interesting loot. Later on, in YGGDRASIL he took to capturing rare NPC's to use his Sacrifice to the Gods ability to acquire more spells and other boons, those sacrificial kills were also noted in the statistics.

Dyne's mouth was agape in horror. He knew that it would be a large number. Part of him thought Tri'ade would give him a vague answer. But four million! And to meticulously keep track of each kill. Dyne's mind raced to think of the possibilities. Just how long did it take to reach four million? How many humans made up that number? Did he count every death that he was personally responsible for or did he count those his servants had killed?

The man was dizzy with questions but he didn't ask anymore. Dyne was afraid of what the answers might be.

Seeing his reaction Tri'ade tried to reassure him. "I have lived and fought for a very long time. Still, soul energy is required to create magical items, casting certain magic..."

He looked down at Mare whose hair was between his fingertips. Mare smiled back up at him and Tri'ade shifted his gaze to Narberal Gamma at his side.

"And of course to make the guardians. Fighting is the most reliable way to acquire soul energy. My friends and I had to acquire a lot to build our home in the Great Tomb."

With a skeptical look, Ninya asked Tri'ade a question that plagued her mind. "So why not take it for yourself? You defeated the Demon God after all. Without any help from us."

Taking his hand off of Mare's head, Tri'ade walked closer to Ninya to look her in the face. "Because you need it more than me."

Both members of Darkness and Mare were surprised at this. Ninya and Mare exclaimed simultaneously.

"What?!"

"Ninya, you and your friends have grown stronger but not fast enough. Having to rez you cause you died on that troll hunt made that clear to me. This is a golden opportunity to level you guys up."

Taking a good look at each of them, Tri'ade turned his head to Peter.

"So are you ready to receive a power boost?"

Quickly bowing to Tri'ade, Peter was clearly anxious.

"Yes! How could we refuse? Your generosity is astounding"

"Yeah, really. You're too much. We'll never be able to repay you! Or is that the plan?"

The ranger gave Tri'ade a wide smile as he said this. Ninya gave Lakrut a strange look, almost taking Lakrut's joke seriously for a moment. While Dyne gave a nervous chuckle before rebuking Lakrut.

"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth Lakrut. Tri'ade's right, the quests have gotten tougher without him around since we hit adamantite rank."

Happy to see Darkness accepting the offer he wanted things to proceed smoothly.

"Good. Good. Mare, do you know how to use Generosity on multiple people? I can do it if not."

"A-Ah Yes! I can handle it!" Not wanting to disappoint Tri'ade Mare put forth his efforts in remembering what he was told about how Avarice and Generosity worked from Pandora's Actor.

The blue glowing ball of energy appeared once more in the palm of Mare's angelic gloved hand. Splitting into four smaller blue balls they floated above the tips of his fingers. It reminded Tri'ade of how the spell fireball started with a small flicker of flame dancing on the tips of his fingers before being propelled onto a target. Just as it did with that spell, the smaller orbs of blue energy raced to their targets.

Each human member of Darkness shimmered in glowing blue energy for a few moments. Afterward, they collapsed to the ground with a loud thud coming from Peter in his heavy armor.

"What's wrong with them?" Tri'ade asked, concerned at what appeared to be Darkness suddenly falling like puppets with their strings cut.

In a near panic Mare clutched at his glove, Generosity. "Huh! I-I don't know! D-Did I do something wrong?! I'm sorry!"

The giant hamster who was standing next to the humans when they collapsed inspected the bodies of his collapsed comrades poking them with his giant furry nose.

"Sleeping they are. No harm they appear to be in."

"Strange."

 _I wonder if it's a part of the process of leveling up in this world? Ingame it was a conscious decision to allocate skill points, and what you would want to level in. But could it work differently in this more... natural world? Perhaps…_

Walking towards the collapsed members of Darkness, Tri'ade inspected their eyelids for a while. He found their eyes were moving rapidly during their sleep. They were definitely in a REM state of sleep. Which from what little Tri'ade knew meant they were dreaming.

He vaguely recalled there were many benefits to REM sleep but couldn't remember them all that well. Part of him wished he had something, even something as dated as a cell phone, which somehow he could use to access the internet to look up REM cycles for reference. Sadly, such a convenient item didn't exist in this world.

 _Perhaps their unconscious minds are doing the work of leveling up? Definitely needs more study. I mean why did they collapse immediately? Was it the sheer amount of energy? Too many questions. Perhaps I should tell Demiurge to follow up on this. While his work is unethical I'm certain I can trust his results._

"Will they be alright milord?"

The hamster looked nervous as he asked about his human companions and he could see the dryad riding on his back. Mare and the other NPCs looked at him with wide eyes expecting all the answers from him, their "wise, all-knowing Supreme Being".

"They just need rest. Their bodies are...processing all the energy they've received."

Mare breathed in a sigh of relief. "Ah! Of course."

Turning his head, Narberal said with disgust, "Weaklings. Getting tired from that."

They weren't the only ones getting tired though. Tri'ade felt a bit drained after the fight with the Great Demon Tree. It was the toughest fight he had endured since coming to the new world. Which wasn't saying much, but he had still used a lot of mana. Taking out a small green figurine in the shape of a house from his inventory, Tri'ade threw it on an empty patch of grass nearby. Suddenly it grew in size to be a small house, though if it were any smaller, one would think it was a shack.

"We'll be spending the night here. Mare, help Pinison and Hamsuke get settled on your floor."

Hamsuke jumped up nearly knocking off the Dryad from his shoulders. "Me?! Why me, milord? I thought that I would be traveling with thee."

Tri'ade dismissed Hamsuke's protests. "You would stand out too much in the city. You won't be of help there. But..."

Looking at Pinison clutching at Hamsuke trying to hold on to the giant Hamster, he added, "She seems to like you. Having another new member along might help her adjust."

Stressed at being subject to so many of what in her mind were unbelievable things happening in one day, Pinison shouted at Tri'ade. "Don't talk like I'm not here! I-I never said I liked her... Not that I hate her, but..."

Confused, Tri'ade asked, "Her?"

"The rodent is a female," Narberal answered her master's question bluntly as a simple statement of fact.

"Oh."

Welling up with tears, the giant hamster was in a state of distress.

"Tis true! To think I mattered so little to ye, milord. Now you'll forget me at your home as you almost did in the city."

Somewhat embarrassed at the mistake, Tri'ade wanted to explain that he thought Hamsuke's voice sounded male but thought better of it. "No, no. It's just that... Nevermind. It's not important. But I have an important job for you after you help Pinison. It's something only you can do."

Getting excited at the idea of being useful to her master, Hamsuke responded, "Oh really! What is it, milord?"

"I need you to help Aura and Mare clear out the dead wood in this area. Now that the Demon Tree is gone it's an ideal place to set up a new settlement."

Looking dejected, Hamsuke accepted her master's wishes and began to sulk.

Mare, curious at his master's orders asked, "F-For who?"

"Let me worry about that. Oh, and be sure to store the sawdust in a secure location. Preferably someplace away from the settlements. I'm sure it can be used for something down the line."

With that, the party assembled in the forest split up. Tri'ade and Narberal carried the sleeping members of Darkness into the magical house. It was much bigger on the inside, with multiple rooms available. There was a hallway leading to six bedrooms but there was also a kitchen, dining area, and living room adjacent to it. This magical house was filled with all the amenities of home.

They plopped each member of Darkness in their own bedrooms after which they met up in the living room. Tri'ade used his quick change gem on his belt to get into his red robes and sat on the couch to get comfortable. Narberal continued to stand at the ready and Tri'ade patted the cushion on the couch next to him.

Tri'ade reassured her, "No one can enter the house without permission. Relax."

"As you wish, my Lord."

Narberal sat down next to him and Tri'ade got a good look at her.

"What is it?" She was curious at the attention her master was giving her.

"Well, I've been wondering. Is it difficult being in that form all the time?"

A perplexed look came across Narberal's face.

"Difficult? No, why do you ask?"

"Maybe difficult is the wrong word... I find my armor uncomfortable to wear for long periods. It's not a great discomfort but a small one that irks me at times. Been thinking about it. Haven't given you much time to be away from humans. I know you dislike them."

"True. Those maggots don't deserve your attention. But I'm glad to be of use to you."

"Really? It's hard to tell. You always have such a stern look."

"D-Do I?!"

Touching her cheek, Tri'ade turned her face to look directly into his eyes.

"Hmm, yes. But that makes it a treat when you smile. You are cute when you smile."

 _God, that was cheesy! What am I saying?!_

Despite what Tri'ade may have thought, his words reached Narberal. Her blushing red cheeks melted away her normal cold expression and replaced it with a sly smile.

"You did say this form was pleasing to the Supreme Beings."

She unbuttoned her adventurer's shirt and moved her cloak out of the way, revealing her bra. Narberal's breasts were bigger than Tri'ade had imagined. Her thick clothing, unlike Albedo's skin-tight silk gowns, did little to accentuate her figure.

 _She's coming on to me?! How long has she wanted for me to give her an order to "service me" while I hesitated?_

Still smiling, Narberal caught Tri'ade staring.

"How greedy. You already have Mistress Albedo."

Tri'ade moved closer to Narberal, resting his head on her shoulders as he unhooked her bra.

"Needy, not greedy. I spent a lifetime without love."

Moving his head back, Tri'ade kissed Narberal on the lips to her surprise. He was already pitching a tent in his robes from Narberal's advances so Tri'ade decided to lift up his robe off himself to show her how much he "needed" her.

"So... big. That is supposed to fit... inside me?"

"Your body will adjust to it. But first, you need to get it wet."

Without another word, Narberal grabbed his dick by the shaft with both hands and began sucking the tip. She could only envelop the first few inches of his member. Unlike Albedo who seemed to have been eager to deepthroat or Shalltear's lack of a gag reflex, this was all she could do.

Still, it was nice. In fact, given her lack of experience, it was suspiciously adept.

"Who taught you about blowjobs?"

Plopping his member out of her mouth to speak Narberal wiped her mouth of drool.

"Xentia. I asked her about it after overhearing a disgusting insect discuss what he would do to my mouth. Am I doing it wrong?"

 _Those Succubi again. Are they corrupting the NPCs or do they seek them out desiring to learn how to serve me sexually?_

"No. But instead of your hands, you can squeeze it between your boobs."

She pressed Tri'ade's dick to her chest and used her hands to grab her breasts to press them together. Those wonderful mounds of soft flesh enveloped most of his shaft leaving the tip jutting out above them.

"Like this?"

"Oh yes! Like that. Don't be afraid to move them as you suck me off."

Smiling, Narberal began once more on the tip licking and sucking it as she pressed her boobs along Tri'ade's shaft. Her head bobbing with her breasts as she moved to take more of her master in her mouth. The more time passed, the more confident Narberal was in her movements as she learned what her master liked.

Soon Tri'ade felt the built up urge to cum and to cum hard. Narberal tried to swallow but she couldn't handle the enormous load of semen Tri'ade was pushing out. She choked. The semen she had in her mouth dripped down to her breasts and what was left in her master's balls splashed all over her face.

"Apologies my lord. It's... everywhere."

Honestly, the amount was ridiculous. It reminded him of something out of the doujins he read back on Earth rather than anything that he was previously capable of. The only thing that could be responsible for this in Tri'ade's mind was his attempt at getting Albedo pregnant.

Before he set off to go adventuring again, he had consulted Iriness about how succubi got pregnant. Apparently, succubi get knocked up in demonic orgies that can last for a full day. In them, the succubi get gangbanged by multiple demons and jizzed in until their bellies bulged with semen. Their ovaries marinated in the massive cum dump for hours to give time for the little swimmers to impregnate the succubi's eggs.

So knowing how badly Albedo wanted one, Tri'ade tried his best to get a baby in her. With a gangbang not being an option, he had to fill Albedo to bursting with cum himself. Setting aside an entire day together for it, they had baby making sex. Never waste a single drop, Tri'ade rammed his dick in Albedo's tight pussy for countless hours. Having to maintain his erection each time he came so that his semen wouldn't leak out by mistake.

The sheer amount required drained his balls repeatedly. During those times where he was tapped out, they rested. Maids brought in refreshments for the both of them. Tri'ade had the maids pour the drink down his mouth so that he could hold Albedo steady with her ass in the air so they could use gravity to keep the semen in her.

It was weird. While he got thirsty as a demon he never had to... relieve himself since coming to the new world. As a demonic creature, he could partake in things due to sin but he got no stat benefits from food and drink items. That proved useful over the course of the day he spent trying to get Albedo pregnant.

Those rest periods lasted roughly five to ten minutes. Then they would go at it again and after that again. Until eventually, Albedo's belly was so full of cum she looked pregnant already. To make sure his swimmers had more than enough time to impregnate her eggs, Albedo got a dildo she had made to plug herself up. Using her panties to keep the thing from slipping out of her Albedo kept Tri'ade's cum in her well into the next day.

Now days later, Tri'ade found himself coating Narberal in thick globs of semen by cumming once. After all that work trying to impregnate Albedo, it baffled Tri'ade.

 _You gotta be kidding me. Did my balls level up or something?!_

Wiping away the semen from her face and breasts, Narberal cleaned the mess Tri'ade made. The semen she scooped up she licked from the palm of her hands, swallowing every last bit of it.

"Salty."

As Tri'ade watched her his dick grew hard, once more standing tall. Narberal's eyes were filled with fascination and transfixed on his crotch.

"Do you need... more of my love master?"

"I do. Strip and get on the couch."

Taking off her pants she revealed her panties. They were wet with her juices as she dropped them to the floor. Tri'ade wasn't the only one who enjoyed the blowjob it seemed. Narberal got on top of Tri'ade on the couch with her knees laying upon the cushions and her ass positioned right above his towering member.

Using one of his hands to hold it steady, Narberal slowly descended upon Tri'ade's dick. A low moan escaped Narberals lips as she took inside her master's tip. Her virgin pussy was so tight she didn't make much progress after the tip. Only the top few inches of her master's dick were enveloped in her warm folds.

Jiggling her ass on top of him Narberal worked the tip squeezing it into her tight snatch. Shaking on top of him Narberal forced herself to take in a bit more of her master's large dick in her virgin pussy. But that just served to increase Tri'ade's frustration. He wanted it all in her.

"Bear with me."

"Huh?"

Grabbing Narberal's ass with both of his hands, Tri'ade used his strength to push her down onto his dick in one swift stroke. The tip of his dick knocked on the door of Narberal's womb. Narberal moaned loudly in pain and pleasure as blood began to spill from her broken hymen. Tri'ade didn't move his hips regardless of his desires to allow Narberal time to get used to his dick inside of her.

"So... So deep! It feels like you're splitting me in half!"

"The pain will subside."

Looking into his eyes Narberal wrapped her arms around Tri'ade's neck.

"Don't worry about me. Enjoy this servant's body as much as you want."

With that Tri'ade lifted Narberal's ass up and down his long shaft. The movements he made were shallow enough so he could enjoy the tightness of Narberal's pussy along the length of his dick. His tip knocked on the entrance of Narberal's womb every time he lowered Narberal down on his dick.

"Master!"

Each time Tri'ade pounded at Narberal's womb she gave off an ecstatic moan and squeezed down on Tri'ade's cock, trying to milk her master. Her hands gripped her master's robes clawing at Tri'ade's back as Narberal tried to endure what her master was doing to her.

"Master! Ah! Yes! Master! Ah!"

She was going crazy on her master's cock. It surprised Tri'ade since it reminded him of how Albedo was when they were together or Shalltear when he face-fucked her. He didn't expect the stern Narberal to get as hot as those two.

Smiling, Narberal began to cry. Tri'ade almost stopped at the tears before he heard Narberal's strained voice.

"So happy! Use me! Make me your sheath!"

The sound of Narberal's ass slapping up against Tri'ade resounded in the room as he picked up the speed. Her legs now wrapped around him, encouraging him to keep his dick in her. Tri'ade could feel the pressure building in his manhood as it pistoned in Narberal's tight folds. Their hips locked in position thanks to Narberal's legs pinning them in as Tri'ade came inside her.

"I'm cumming!"

"Ahh! Hot! So hot!"

Moaning, Tri'ade went slack-jawed at how good it felt as his cum jetted out to pour directly into her womb. Narberal milked him dry as she spasmed in their shared orgasm, leaving Tri'ade cumming in her for the several full seconds of pure ecstasy until it was finally over. The strength in Narberal's legs slacked as the strength left them and the pain in Tri'ade's back subsided as she loosened her grip.

"Ah... so much... So much of your love..."

Leaning to the side Narberal fell over. Tri'ade tried to catch her but fell onto the couch with her. His tired arms could only keep her from falling off the couch and held her close to his panting chest.

The movement of sliding his slick tool out of her allowed cum to spill out of Narberal, staining the couch.

Catching his breath, Tri'ade enjoyed the afterglow as he held Narberal in his arms. Her head was buried in his chest as Tri'ade held her close. He thought back to when they started traveling together. Tri'ade would never have imagined being with her like this.

She was so hostile to humans and her stoic demeanor lacked any charm. But as they traveled together he would catch glimpses of how cute she could be. How her glowering expression softened whenever he came close to her. The smile that would visit her face when he approved of what she did. Her red cheeks when strangers suspected us of being lovers. That side of her, Tri'ade wanted to see more of.

Brushing his hand through Narberal's raven black hair Tri'ade's focus shifted back to the present. Her breasts pressing against his chest were so soft and he felt her hot breath against his skin. The slick tool that slid out of Narberal began to stiffen once more and began poking her in the abdomen.

Ready for another go, Tri'ade lifted her head so he could kiss Narberal. When he lifted her head though, Tri'ade found Narberal fast asleep.

 _Was I too rough with her for her first time? Ugg…_

Wiggling across Narberal's soft belly, Tri'ade's dick was twitching. He was a bit frustrated with Narberal's condition despite his understanding. Hoping to continue but not wanting to jolt Narberal awake, he whispered to her.

"Hey. Wakey, wakey."

Still asleep, Narberal mumbled.

"Master..."

Whatever it was she was dreaming, Tri'ade felt it would be wrong to force her awake to continue. So he decided it was probably time for the both of them to go to bed anyways. Getting up from the couch he could see it was irrevocably stained. A puddle of cum was dripping down to the floor from the side of the couch.

Grabbing Narberal's clothes he put them into his inventory before grabbing Narberal. Slung over his shoulder, her breasts pressed against her master's back and cum continued to drip from her pussy. Needing to clean up the mess the two of them made, Tri'ade pointed his finger at the couch.

[Disintegrate]

A green beam of light shot out from his fingertip and vaporized the couch along with what was on it. Tri'ade could have opened a gate back to Nazerick but he didn't want to explain himself to fetch a maid. While he was hard and ready for another round he wasn't too ready to get wrapped up in another lengthy session of "baby-making" sex with Albedo.

From Sebas' report, there were apparently low-level utility spells that could clean an area of filth but Tri'ade didn't know any. As soon as he figured out how to learn new spells, Tri'ade wanted to learn them first along with any other magic the new world had to offer.

Going to one of the empty bedrooms, Tri'ade laid Narberal on the queen size bed and tucked her between the sheets. He was about to slip in himself when he heard a voice in his ear.

"Is that you, Lord Tri'ade?"

The naked Arch-Devil was startled, he darted his head in every direction before realizing the voice was coming from a [Message] spell.

"Solution? Why are you contacting me? Is there an emergency?"

"Yes. There is a chance Lord Sebas has turned on us."

"What?! Your kidd-... No, you wouldn't do that. Do you have proof?"

"Yes..."

She explained the situation to Tri'ade. How Sebas came back to the mansion one night with a human girl riddled with diseases and on death's door. How he insisted on using one of their valuable healing scrolls on the useless human and how thugs came the next day making demands of both of them. That Sebas refused to report any of this to him. At the end of it, Tri'ade could only sigh as he ended the message with Solution.

 _Sounds like something Touch Me would have done. Still, it doesn't make sense. He hasn't asked for help. Is he afraid of being punished? I should contact Albedo and Demiurge about it._

Before he did anything though he heard the bed sheets rustle behind him. Turning to face it he saw it was Narberal.

"You're awake now?"

Slowly Narberal sat up and the sheets fell off her. She didn't hide her breasts. Narberal stared at Tri'ade.

"Yes. Did you carry me here?"

"Couldn't just leave you out there for the others to see."

"Oh..."

Moving closer to her, Tri'ade crawled into the bed next to her. While she might not have felt exposed, he did. His naked body was caressed by the soft sheets as he made himself comfortable. Tri'ade spoke softly to Narberal.

"Was I too rough? You surprised me when you fainted."

"No Master, no. It's just that...I was so full... I felt a jolt up my spine as you gave me your love. You made my head so fuzzy."

 _Is she describing an orgasm?! She came so much she fainted? That is so hot!_

He was used to giving Albedo orgasmic hell when they first came to the New World. Just touching her arm would have been enough for her. But the thought of Narberal fainting in pleasure from being cream-pied got Tri'ade into a horny mood again. Tri'ade reached out to her face and kissed her. Their first kiss now that he thought about it. Drawing back on it Tri'ade asked with an eager smile.

"Ready for more?"

Blushing, Narberal nodded her head. Tri'ade moved on top of her. He gripped her lower back and lifted her hips up, forcing Narberal to use her arms to support her upper torso. Pulling her in close, Narberal's legs wrapped around Tri'ade as he entered her. The cum he had poured in her made it easy despite how tight her pussy was. Narberal moaned as Tri'ade penetrated her and began to move his hips.

Like this, she really was a cock sleeve. Her twitching pussy and how hard Narberal's nipples were as they swayed told Tri'ade how much she enjoyed this. Being her master's sheath as she put it. This all urged Tri'ade forward as he hammered his hips into her.

Cumming inside her again, Narberal's arm's gave way and her upper half laid upon the bed. But Tri'ade wasn't done with her yet. He turned her around so he could get a good look at her ass. Part of him wanted to plunge himself into it but he decided against it. Given his size, Tri'ade figured he would get a dingleberry or something without having Narberal prepare herself. So he just went at her doggy style.

The two of them were joined at the hips like this for half an hour or so. Tri'ade forgetting in the heat of the moment that he should be contacting Demiurge and Albedo about Sebas. Both Tri'ade and Narberal were a sticky mess when they finished. It was fortunate the Green House came with bathrooms. Ingame it was just an RP aesthetic thing but in the New World, they were functional.

They took turns in the bathroom with Narberal going first. Tri'ade decided this not to avoid Narberal but because the Green House bathrooms were quite small compared to what he was used to. Getting the tub nice and full he got in to scrub himself clean. Tri'ade started reflecting on things.

 _Well, Narberal is decidedly one of my concubines now... The harem is growing... Can a demon and a doppelganger have a child? I probably did pump enough semen in her to knock up a dozen women so she would have to be infertile not to get pregnant._

 _The other Pleiades will probably want to become concubines as well. Meaning more babies. If I refuse, they'll get jealous of Narberal. That would undermine their cohesion as a fighting force…_

 _I'm going to have a lot of children... Yeah, no stopping that now. Snowball is already rolling down on that. In a few years, I'll probably have a dozen children just because most of the women in the Great Tomb will want to be a part of my harem. Though it will help that servants like Shalltear and Yuri are infertile being undead. Or well, should be._

 _Should I leave the logistics of taking care of all those children up to Albedo? In Crusader Kings Six, your other wives tended to kill the children you had with other women. She's too devoted to me to do something like that. Though maybe... if she doesn't get a few of her own she just might..._

 _Oh! I haven't messaged Albedo about Sebas yet. Shit._

Tri'ade facepalmed himself for thinking with his dick. He still wasn't used to his raging libido as a devil. But he was just glad no one else knew it. Using a message spell while he was still in the bath, he used the privacy of the bathroom to speak to Albedo about Sebas. All the while trying to figure out how to break it to Albedo that he had just made Narberal a concubine.

* * *

 _ **The Re-Estize Kingdom Capital City-Upper District Mansion**_

Tri'ade sat on a couch in the parlor room in full armor. Gathered around him was Demiurge who was holding the 8th Floor Guardian, Victim, with Cocytus on his right. The atmosphere was tense. Normally the atmosphere was stiff when he was with the NPC's but today it was on a different scale. Solution had messaged him the night before that Sebas had betrayed Nazarick and she had proof.

Naturally, Tri'ade found this hard to believe. Everything he knew about the NPC's behavior contradicted Solution's claim. So he asked Solution what evidence she had and she explained everything to him. That Sebas had brought home a broken and diseased human girl and used a valuable healing scroll on her. Keeping her around the Mansion as a maid and refusing to tell him about it. That this girl was being pursued by shady men who had come by asking about her.

The Shadow Demons he had sent to watch where Tuare was kept informed him that Sebas had acquired the woman there and later on assaulted the place with a boy in mithril armor. Probably to rescue other girls who were kept there.

It sounded like something Touch Me would do. But one question echoed in his mind as he waited. _Why? Why didn't he report this? Why did it take Solution tattling on him to get him informed about this situation?_ Tri'ade had ordered Sebas to keep him apprised of anything and to keep a low profile. Sebas had the opposite.

The door into the parlor room opened. Sebas stepped through with Solution in her maid uniform behind him. Beads of sweat glistened in the light of the room. Being in front of his master like this he was losing his usual stone-faced composure.

"I apologize for my lateness."

After saying that Sebas lowered his head to his master in a bow. His master Tri'ade raised his hand accepting his apology.

"It's fine. Considering you did not expect me I expected you to be late. Never mind that. Rise and get over here."

"Yes, my lord."

Moving closer to Tri'ade, he only walked a short distance until another spoke up, stopping Sebas in his tracks.

"I think you should stop right there."

The spot was slightly removed from their master. Enough so that conversation wasn't difficult but not as close as Demiurge was to their Lord. It was also the ideal range for Cocytus's halberd to strike down upon Sebas, making him wary. Nazarick's head butler had been feeling the barely concealed hostility from the floor guardians this entire time and it weighed heavily upon him.

"Do I need to bother explaining why I'm here?"

"No, that won't be necessary."

"Then let us get to the point. I've heard you picked up a new maid. Is that correct?"

Growing pale Sebas slightly jerked upon hearing Tri'ade say that. Realizing he went silent, Sebas responded in a hurry. " Yes, my lord!"

As he said those words a bead of his own sweat dropped to the floor. Tri'ade's eyes wandered over to Sebas's breast pocket. His handkerchief was missing. He knew what that meant. "You gave it to her, didn't you?

A wide-eyed Sebas looked at Tri'ade.

"My lord?"

Tri'ade's palm went to his face as he grew annoyed with Sebas.

"You are sweating bullets. The one time you need it you don't have a handkerchief. Answer my question."

"Yes, it is as you say, my lord. I gave it to the young lady."

His hand disappearing in a black hole Tri'ade plucked out a clean handkerchief out of it. With a flick of the wrist, Tri'ade tossed it to Sebas' feet. "Use it. You are still Head-Butler of Nazarick. Compose yourself Sebas."

Sebas took a step forward towards Tri'ade and bent down taking up the handkerchief. "Thank you... I apologize for my unsightly appearance." Using the handkerchief absorbed the copious amount of sweat and Sebas wiped his forehead clean. The cloth turned dark from the moisture.

"Now that you have regained a measure of dignity let's continue. I ordered you to record everything and anything to send back in your reports. I did this because it's difficult to determine what's worthwhile and what is worthless at this stage. You have done this for the most part. It could be I simply missed your report about this young lady you rescued. Demiurge you've read over the reports did you find anything relating to the girl?"

Demiurge shook his head, "No, Lord Tri'ade. I have read them over several times I couldn't find anything that even slightly mentions her."

"As I thought. So why didn't you report her, Sebas?"

"I didn't think it merited a report to you."

Cocking his head to the side Tri'ade looked at Sebas in curiosity, "Why are you lying to me?"

The question rocked the room and Sebas answered in a hurry.

"I-I am not, my lord! I simply did not think the matter merited a report to you."

A dreadful silence descended in the room. Four bloodthirsty eyes bore into the head-butler from the other NPC's in the room. If commanded by their master they would gladly tear Sebas limb from bloody limb. After a long pause, which left Sebas time to once again produce beads of sweat upon his brow, Tri'ade spoke.

"I don't want to hear excuses. I want to hear why you did it. So let us try this again. Think long and hard before you answer. Your orders were clear. Why did you choose to interpret them differently for this girl?"

Falling to his knees Sebas lowered his head in apology to his master.

"Please forgive me. I-I was ashamed of my actions."

"Hmm?"

"My actions have jeopardized our operation. I did not wish to give a report about the matter until I resolved the situation..."

Tri'ade sighed, "There's the truth. You also assaulted the girl's employers with the aim to eliminate the problem, didn't you?"

Sebas was shocked at his master knowing this. He had just returned from assaulting the brothel. The question ran through his mind, what else did his master know?

"How...Yes, Lord, it is as you say."

"Let me make one thing clear Sebas. I'm not mad at you for saving the girl. Saving someone who is in trouble is common sense after all. I'm certain Touch Me would be proud of you carrying on his legacy."

Looking up at Tri'ade there was a visible sense of relief on Sebas's face. Joy even dared to glimmer in his eyes for a moment. The rancor which permeated the room by the guardian's glaring stare upon Sebas disappeared as if it ever existed in the first place.

However, Tri'ade continued speaking. "But... I am disappointed in you. You did not trust me. You did not trust me to understand, to support you. You have tainted the trust the others had in you by your deception."

Sebas looked as if someone had stabbed him in the chest. The relief and joy he felt before was replaced by soul-crushing despair. The bloodthirsty stares of the guardians were back upon him, the rancorous pressure of them bearing down upon him like a collapsing house of bricks. Sebas tried to refute the Supreme One's words but nothing came out of his mouth. He was rendered speechless from the turmoil in his heart.

Tri'ade motioned over to Solution who was standing behind Sebas to come towards him which she did. "Solution, bring the girl here. I wish to see her."

Wide-eyed, Sebas watched Solution leave. Besides his master, everyone else in the room was not hiding their identities as grotesque monsters. The fact that his master had summoned the girl here without going to the effort of hiding their true natures meant he was not concerned about the girl leaking information. Sebas feared for Tuare's life.

After a short while, there was a knock on the door then they heard Solution's voice. "I have brought her, my lord."

Tuare in a maid uniform appeared through the door into the parlor with Solution behind her. For the guardians, she was the physical embodiment of Sebas's crimes so their rancor towards him shifted towards her as soon as she came into view. She froze in the middle of the doorway in shock from the sheer amount of bloodlust coming from the guardians on display before her.

Tri'ade stomped his feet on the ground to get everyone's attention. "Everyone, calm yourselves. Be like Victim and restrain yourselves."

The room's atmosphere changed with the disappearance of the rancor directed at Tuare. After reproaching the Guardians for their stares, Tri'ade held out his hand in Tuare's direction and waved her to come closer.

"Come in Tuare. I wish to see you for myself."

Despite being shaken by the gazes of the Guardians upon her Tuare continued forward. When she came to Sebas's side she tugged on his sleeve looking up at him while Sebas continued to stare transfixed at Lord Tri'ade while ignoring her. Tri'ade took note of how well this human girl acted in the company of monsters.

"Impressive you didn't run. Did Solution tell you that Sebas' fate depended upon you? No matter."

Cocytus moved to station himself behind Tuare to cut off any hope of escape for her from the room. Demiurge and Tri'ade exchanged glances after which Tri'ade leaned forward on the couch to address Tuare.

"I am Tri'ade Nazarick. Master of everyone in this room. You would do well to remember it."

Tuare could barely get a word out of her mouth. She didn't know what to say. After what Tri'ade said she was now afraid what would happen to Sebas. "Oh, I-I..."

"You don't need to speak. I already know you and your story. You can keep quiet and stand there. You'll know why you're here in a moment."

She meekly accepted this, somewhat relieved she did not have to speak on Sebas' behalf.

"O-okay."

Tri'ade turned his gaze back on Sebas and spoke in a harsh tone.

"Now then... Sebas. You have invited trouble in saving this girl. You blew your cover as a butler of a noble family in trying to fix your mistake on your own. You failed to tell anyone else about it because of your own insecurities. Is that right?"

Sebas could hardly stand to look his master in the eye as he agreed with his assessment. "You are correct, my Lord."

"I forgive you."

Huh?

Sebas was confused so Tri'ade repeated himself to make his point clear.

"I forgive you. Everyone makes mistakes after all."

"I humbly thank you, Lord Tri'ade."

His master stopped him there raising his hand to silence him. "However. There is still the matter of trust. You broke that trust in not reporting Tuare to me. You're the head butler of Nazarick. It sets a terrible precedent if this is not resolved. You must right this wrong in order for Nazarick to be whole again."

Sebas placed his hand above his heart as he responded to his Lord's wishes, "Of course, my lord. I will do whatever is required of me."

Tri'ade slowly raised his hand with his finger pointing to Tuare, "Kill Tuare."

A cold sweat dripped down from Sebas' face and he gulped, "Beg you're... pardon, my lord...?"

"You heard me. Kill the girl. Prove to your peers her life is not above your loyalty to me, to Ainz Ooal Gown. That you still obey the Supreme Beings."

Sebas hesitated, "I-"

Growing frustrated at that Tri'ade reprimanded Sebas, "Not with words! Show me with your actions."

A dreadful silence filled the room after Tri'ade spoke these words. Sebas turned to look down at Tuare for the first time during this whole ordeal. A cold stoic look was across Sebas' face as he gazed down upon her. Tuare let go of Sebas' sleeve and looked into her savior's eyes.

A smile grew on her face as she accepted her fate. Tuare closed her eyes and lifted her head up high in order to make it easier for Sebas. If it meant helping the man who saved her, who cared for her, she seemed willing at least in Tri'ade's eyes to even go as far as dying for him.

As Sebas took a stance preparing himself to strike, Tri'ade was getting nervous. The moment of truth was fast approaching. He steadied his breathing trying not to give anything away.

 _Please forgive me Ninya._

Launching his punch through the air it streaked with lightning speed only to be stopped by Cocytus' large insectoid hand. The shock wave of air gushing through the room knocked over a magical lamp, sending it crashing to the floor. Tuare's hair blew in the wind every which way for a few seconds before the wind in the room settled down.

"What is this?!"

Cocytus only grunted in response to Sebas's exclamation. Tri'ade motioned back to Sebas waving his open hand through the air commanding him to step aside."Step away, Sebas!"

Sebas obeyed immediately not certain what to make of this. Did his Lord plan this out ahead of time with Cocytus? "Right... Lord."

"Cocytus was that attack intended to be a lethal blow?"

"Without. A. Doubt. Lord."

Opening her eyes Tuare had a sad look on her face still processing what had happened. On the other side of the room sighing with relief, Tri'ade clapped his hands.

"Trust is restored. Sebas's your loyalty has been proven genuine."

"My lord!" With a hard expression on his face, Sebas bowed his head, looking over to him Tuare followed his stead, bowing in turn to Tri'ade. Their master looked around the room before speaking again.

"Does anyone object to my ruling on Sebas?" Going around the room Demiurge, Cocytus and Victim all agreed with Tri'ade's assessment that Sebas was loyal, that they had no objections. The hostility that was present in the room was gone as if it never was there, to begin with. Tri'ade found this strange how on a dime things could flip like this but he was glad for it. He wanted to get past this ugly business.

"Now, we have other business to discuss. Tuare?"

"Ah, yes?"

"Just to confirm your last name is Veyron correct?"

"Yes, it is... lord."

The young blonde woman's eyes were staring at the ground, still wary of him after his ordering Sebas to try to kill her. Tri'ade simply smiled at her as he spoke.

"I had my own plans to save you, you know?"

Both Sebas and Tuare's eyes widened in surprise. It looked like Tuare was puzzled to hear this most of all. She, after all, didn't know of anyone who would care for her given her past life as a slavish whore in an illegal brothel.

"You did my lord?"

Leaning back onto the couch Tri'ade began to relax as he spoke. The issue of Sebas' loyalty and the stress of the past several minutes were gone from his mind. "Yes, I did. I had eyes on that place you busted up. You are not the only one adhering to Touch Me's mantra, Sebas."

Sebas said to himself in astonishment. "So you knew from the beginning..."

 _I didn't check in with the Shadow Demons until after Solution contacted me. To further complicate things my orders didn't include provisions regarding Sebas. So when he attacked the place they simply observed him. Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left is doing…_

Proudly Demiurge stuck up his chest as he stated something that he felt was obvious to all who served the Supreme Beings, "Fool. Of course, he did. No one can hide anything from our Supreme Lord's peerless insight."

For Tri'ade, this was a little much so he rushed with an explanation that wouldn't make him look bad. "Eh. I was busy with other matters so I wanted to see what you would do. The result wasn't what I desired but not unexpected. You are inexperienced after all. Mistakes were bound to happen."

"I see... I deeply regret that my actions invited your displeasure, Lord Tri'ade. I'll take sufficient care that this never happens again."

"Right. I know you will, Sebas."

Shifting his gaze over to Tuare, Tri'ade continued, "Anyway, I know someone who wishes to see you again, Tuare. Your sister. She's the one who asked me to save you."

Tuare stammered in response, "M-My imouto?"

"Yes. We met in E-Rantel. To make a long story short she and her friends are servants of mine like Sebas. Would you like to see her?"

"I-I thank you, Lord. You are so generous. Yes, I would."

"Solution, if you would fetch Ninya?"

Solution bowed before exiting the room. When the door opened again, Ninya was standing in the doorway garbed in her enchanted blue robes and wearing her witch hat. Tuare looks back to see her sister. The two of them stare at each other for a moment, not certain of the other due to not having met after years of separation.

"Oneesan!"

Tears began to form in both their eyes. Ninya ran to hug Tuare. After a long embrace, Tuare caressed Ninya's head running her fingers through her short hair. Both of them began to talk over each over expressing their concerns and their feelings for each other. From his seat on the couch, it was difficult for Tri'ade to follow what they were saying.

Demiurge issued a cough to bring attention in the room to him, including the two sisters. "While I hate to interrupt this touching display, we do have other business to tend to."

"Right. Tuare's future for one."

Still clutching to her sister, Ninya looked over to Tri'ade. "Her future?"

"Yes. It's not safe for her to remain in the Kingdom."

Sebas stepped forward to explain to his master, "I dealt with her employers directly. There should be none left who would wish the young lady harm."

Tuare looked at Sebas with awe in her eyes, "Sebas..."

The devil in a suit shook his head at the butler's comment, "Really... This is why you should not do everything yourself. You are not even aware of your own mistakes."

The butler grimaced at Demiurge before turning to look at his master Tri'ade, who sighed. Tuare watched Sebas throughout this exchange. Tri'ade explained what Demiurge had meant.

"You escalated matters, Sebas. According to my own sources, the people you attacked are part of an organization called Eight Fingers. You humiliated them. If they have an ounce of pride they will seek retribution."

 _Said source being Ninya. I heard most crimes in the Kingdom were controlled by this Eight Fingers group. Hard to imagine a syndicate with such a reputation wouldn't control most criminal activity in the capital._

Doing a slight bow, Sebas asked for forgiveness, "I should have been more thorough. My apologies."

"You already have my forgiveness Sebas. Still, It means the only safe place for Tuare is with us. If you would like, Tuare, you can be a guest in my home. No one will harm you there."

"That's very kind of you, Lord, b-but I would like to be able to work with Master Sebas."

Looking at Tuare and then back to Sebas, the Lord of Nazerick smiled. He could tell Tuare had feelings for her rescuer, "Hmm. I do need more maids. Heh, and you already have your uniform. Very well. From this moment on you will be a maid working directly underneath Sebas. Sebas, make sure she is properly trained before you get her to work. Inform everyone in the Great Tomb of Nazerick that Tuareninya Veyron, like her sister Ninya Veyron, is under my protection and that she will be working with them from now on."

Everyone inside the room beside Tri'ade and Tuare bowed at once. Tuare hastily followed suit. Tri'ade turned to Demiurge.

"Demiurge, do you have any objections?"

"Not a single one my lord. Your word is law in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. That said, I imagine many will find it hard to comprehend welcoming a human to our blessed land. How might I explain it to them?"

"Race is unimportant to me. Loyal service to the well-being of Nazarick is all that matters. It's what unites all servants of Nazerick."

"Well said. I do not believe anyone who calls themselves your loyal servant can object to that reasoning."

"If they do, send them to me and I'll explain it more thoroughly to them. Now..."

Looking over to Ninya, Tri'ade addressed her directly, "I must apologize for what Sebas has done to you Ninya. After growing so much stronger, after so much preparation on your part, you didn't get to kill those who hurt your sister yourself. You were denied your revenge."

Raising her hands up in protest Ninya was flustered by Tri'ade's apology, "N-No! Having my oneesan back... It's what I've been dreaming of for years. I'm just happy we're together again."

"Ah. Is that so? Well, I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on. Solution, escort them to the guest rooms here. Now that the matter of your sister is settled, we have other business to discuss."

Solution bowed to Tri'ade but before Ninya could be escorted out, Ninya said something in haste, "Thank you, Lord Tri'ade. Master Sebas. For saving my sister."

Doing a very low bow Ninya genuflected to Tri'ade. "I can never truly repay you for your kindness...But... I will do everything I can."

Smiling a twisted smile, Tri'ade motioned Ninya to get up. "I know both of you will. And in doing so you will know why I prefer willing servants. Why your former Lord was a fool to treat you and your sister like he did."

The two sisters stared blankly at what Tri'ade was saying to them. Shifting his gaze to Sebas, Tri'ade was reminded of Touch Me as he spoke, "Sebas... Kindness is a strength. People often have mistaken it for weakness but it isn't. Being kind to ingrates who exploit you is simple foolishness. It is not the result of being kind. Sebas' mistake was born from shame. Vanity and pride were at fault."

The old butler's eyes widened at Tri'ade saying this. It seemed Sebas realized something important. Their master continued his speech.

"After all, many of Ainz Ooal Gown, those who built the Great Tomb of Nazarick came into our service like Tuare and her sister. So many members of our Guild, my friends, were saved from cruel fates, creating lasting bonds with those who saved them. We grew strong and built magnificent things together. Everyone in this room, who we are today, is thanks to other people's kindness. I expect you all to remember that."

As he spoke, Sebas did a deep bow to Tri'ade, "Never my Lord. I will engrave your words to memory."

Demiurge smiled confidently, "Your kindness and mercy are boundless. Truly it is the prerogative of the strong."

"Always. Am. I. Thankful. For. Your. Kindness. Of. Remaining. With. Us."

"I-I th-thank you."

Stuttering, Tuare had tears in her eyes looking down to the floor, not knowing what to say. Stepping in between the sister's, Solution turned her head to talk to both of them.

"Come now. We've taken enough of the Supreme One's time."

The three of them bowed one more time before leaving the room. At this point, Tri'ade was getting tired of all the bowing and scraping but accepted it as part of his role as Lord of Nazarick to suffer through it all.

* * *

Ninya walked alongside her sister as they followed Solution out of the room. They were led along one of the Mansion's corridors with the windows on the left as they walked offering a panoramic view of the city of Re-Estize.

There were so many questions buzzing in her head. Ninya didn't want to ask them while they were in the room with Lord Tri'ade and his other servants. The atmosphere in there felt stifling and she knew from experience with Narberal that asking too many questions annoyed Tri'ade's other servants. It was easier to get answers from their master directly. Tri'ade seemed to trust her and the rest of Darkness but it was clear in the few times they met other servants in Nazerick that they didn't.

Still, that old man is the one who saved her sister? Tri'ade didn't seem to be the one who ordered him to do so given what they said. But why? And Eight Fingers? Did that bastard of a noble sell her sister off to them when he got bored of her?! That last thought made her blood boil.

 _"Your former Lord was a fool..."_

Tri'ade's words echoed in Ninya's mind. She was reminded that Devils were said to be of a devious intellect. Tri'ade saved and offered her sister a job as a maid in his home. Her new Lord had her in his "protection". A cynical person would assume it was insurance against betrayal. Ninya didn't like to think like that but how could she not? Her childhood was that of a peasant starving under an abusive noble. It was hard not to assume the worse.

It seemed like a cruel joke that the human nobles she knew were far more cruel and greedy than the actual devil she now served. Part of her for the longest time was just waiting for Tri'ade to reveal himself as the sadistic monster that he was.

That seemed so hard to imagine now. Not with her sister at her side. Not after what he said. Tri'ade believed in her. Even taking into consideration the most cynical interpretation of her Lord's actions, he showed a faith in her and friends that no one else had shown them before. Ninya didn't want to disappoint Tri'ade.

Silently, Solution led them back to the room Darkness had been using since they arrived in Re-Estize. The door opened and Ninya could see the others. Peter was polishing his armor, Lakrut was lying on the bed while Dyne was reading a book, Narberal Gamma situated herself in one of the room's corners, she was the first to see the door open.

She moved to the open door with a slight smile on her face. Narberal had been... happy. She refused to explain why. Narberal hadn't referred to any of them as insects or snapped at Lakrut. It was freaky.

Narberal greeted her sister at the door, "Solution."

"Narberal."

"I trust everything went well. Who is that new maid?

"Yes. Lord Tri'ade handled everything masterfully. It was magnificent."

Turning around to look at Tuare with a blank stare and then back to her sister Solution continued.

"This is the human Sebas saved. Lord Tri'ade has decreed she will be a maid serving under him."

The new maid of Nazerick looked at Narberal and the rest of Darkness in the room. Tuare was afraid. She stood behind her sister Ninya. Whispering in a hushed tone so that only Ninya could hear her she asked.

"Wh-Who are these people?"

With a confused look on her face, Ninya whispered back."These are my friends."

Taking a good look at Nazerick's newest maid, Narberal addressed Ninya. "Is this your sister?"

"Yes. This is my sister Tuare."

Nodding in response as she said those words Ninya took Tuare's hand to reassure her frightened sister. At this, the rest of Darkness moved closer to the door to get a look at Tuare, the one they had heard about for so long.

Tuare grabbed her sister's hand hard. She was not afraid when she was with Sebas but he was not here. While it was shocking to see monsters in the mansion the shock numbed her of any fear she may have had. But man? She had learned to fear them. Tuare wanted to run away but she couldn't so instead she stuck close to her younger sister's back. Ninya was smaller than her so this sight was somewhat comical.

Rushing forward, Lukrut tried to get a good look at Tuare and outstretched his hand, "A pleasure to meet you. Name's Lukrut. I hope we can become good friends."

Elbowing Lukrut's ribs, Peter subtly warned Lukrut, "Lay off. You're scaring her. Name's Peter, the Vice Captain of Darkness. We've heard a lot about you from your sister. You're safe with us."

"Yes. We all serve the same master. Dyne Woodwonder, if your wondering, is my name."

Sheepishly, Tuare spoke from behind her sister. "A-Ah hmm...Thank you for keeping my sister safe."

Solution was eager to get back to her master so she tried to leave the humans here, "I should get back to Lord Tri'ade. You should stay here until our master has need of you."

Reaching her hand out Ninya tried keep Solution from leaving just yet. "Ah... would it be possible for my sister and I to stay in another room?"

Looking down the corridor Solution saw the other empty bedrooms on this side of the mansion so she acquiesced to Ninya's request. She wanted to get back to her master quickly and didn't see the harm in it.

"Just keep to the adjourning room to this one. I don't want to come looking for you two."

With that, Ninya excused herself to her friends who saw how squeamish Tuare was around them and understood why Ninya requested the private room. The two sisters had spent years apart and now we're together again. They had a lot to talk about, telling each other how their lives were spent after their separation would be a difficult thing to do if Tuare could hardly speak.

For their part, Darkness waited patiently in the room trying to guess what Tri'ade had in store for the next. About the possibility of joining the royal feast, what possibly there was to eat in the royal capital, and most importantly when would they be able to truly test out their new abilities.

* * *

 _ **Afterword:**_

Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope everyone is in good health. For those of you that didn't know, I had a cold (upper respiratory infection) for over a month due to a Z-pack not being effective in eliminating it. Made writing a bit difficult especially for the lemon scene with Naberal. But I've been better thanks to getting antibiotics that DID work.

It's crazy to think been nearly one year since Tri'ade's story has started. How time flies by. I'd like to thank everyone who has read the story and followed it since then. As well as everyone who has reviewed thank you. Especially you PervySageChuck you glorious bastard. The first one to follow this story and review it. I think it's appropriate that this update contains a lengthy lemon scene as a gift from me to you.

Fun fact the scene was originally written to end when Tri'ade got Solution's message but I later lengthened after re-reading it a few times. That's the perk of taking more time to write a chapter. Speaking of which I'm still looking for Beta Readers to review chapters before I publish them. If your willing pm me. It would really help me to get a beta reader.

Regarding the whole change in format in the dialog. It's was inspired by me reading Nigel's translations of the manga. It made things so much easier for me writing out this dialog heavy chapter. Rather than finding multiple ways to phrase things in a sentence indicating who is saying it. Rather than "Ah, Demiurge. Let him in," Ainz ordered. it's Ainz: Ah, Demiurge. Let him in. So much simpler. Less quibbling over word choice saying essentially he said this or that.

Though I honestly want your guy's opinions on this format change. Depending on feedback I might continue it but personally, I like it. But that might just be me being lazy.

Edit: Got all the feedback I desired from that. Thank you all very much. Chapter 16 is now converted from Playwright to Prose and all following chapters will follow the regular format. Again thank Pervy for choosing entirely of his free will to proofread my work. He wasn't trapped and coerced into doing it at all. This wasn't an elaborate plan to bait him and force him to be my beta reader.

Oh considering most of you guys liked the Scraps chapter this one definitely produced some of its own given all the re-writing I had to do with it in some parts. Here they are:

* * *

 ** _Scrapped Scenes/Cut Content (non-canon)_**

 _ **Extension of Reunion Dialog after Sebas "learns" Tri'ade knew all along**_

 _I cut this cause It became difficult to fully articulate the crazy deluded plan Demiurge saw and where exactly I was going with it. There were also implications of doing the scene while Ninya and Tuare were still in the room that I didnt want to address. So it was removed to streamline the scene to the next part._

Stepping forward the other blonde maid in the room addressed her lord.

Solution: Lord Tri'ade. One thing remains unclear to me. If it was your intent to save this human why didn't you order it?

Tri'ade: I was being cautious. Unlike Sebas I didn't want to stir up a hornet's nest saving her. Saving her could wait until I arrived in the city.

Solution: But the human would have died by then.

 _Not that I knew that... Dam it. Is she seeing through me?_

Pressing his glasses up Demiurge had a large smile on his face.

Demiurge: Don't you see? Our Master's plan originally called for her to die.

Sebas (externally) & Tri'ade (internally): What?

Demiurge: It is so simple. But I don't mind explaining it for everyone. If that is alright with you my Lord?

Tri'ade: Hmmph you already started Demiurge. Finish it.

Demiurge: Apologies lord.

 _ **Alt Response to giving Demon God EXP to Darkness 1**_

 _Both of these Alt responses were removed after I re-read previous scenes I had written for Darkness in previous chapters. And it felt like an unnecessary addition that led to Tri'ade monologuing which I try to avoid._

Whispering under her breath Tri'ade could barely hear Ninya who collapsed to her knees.

Ninya: Why are you so kind?

Tri'ade: Huh?

Ninya eyes began to tear up as she continued.

Ninya: Why are you so kind to us?! You are a demon! A monster!

Naberal: How dare you! You ungrateful worm!

Holding Naberal back with the back of his arm. Tri'ade shook his head to signal to her to stand down. Tri'ade knelt down to closer to Ninya.

Tri'ade: Your mine. All of you are.

Reaching out his hand Tri'ade wiped away Ninya's tears. He continued with a smile on his face.

Tri'ade: I take care of my own. It's in my interest to do so.

Standing up Tri'ade looked down at Ninya smiling at him. Offering her a hand to help her up she accepted it getting up. Dyne and her other comrades smiled warmly at this. While Dyne was still horrified at Tri'ade's kill count after seeing this he was reminded by what kind of man his master was. Dyne convinced himself there must be some reasonable explanation for it.

Ninya: I understand. Sorry... for my outburst.

Tri'ade: No need for apologies. I know the reason for it.

Cocytus: So. merciful. and. wise.

 _ **Alt Response to giving Demon God EXP to Darkness 2**_

Ninya: Plan? Wait ARE YOU growing our souls so you can absorb it later?

Dyne: What?

Naberal: How dare you! Ungrateful worm!

Raising his hand Tri'ade reigned Naberal's bloodlust towards Ninya.

Tri'ade: No. I'm not fattening you up just so I can eat you later. I guess I should be glad that you trust me enough to even ask that.

Ninya: S-Sorry.

Scratching his chin in thought Tri'ade stared at Ninya's and the uncertainty in her eyes.

Tri'ade: No I think I understand it. You are naturally suspicious. Well then let me explain myself.

For a start. If you were stronger I would feel comfortable sending you on more quests without me or Naberal watching over you. More quests completed more profit for me since I pay you a salary. Naberal could spend less time with you doing other things. I don't have many servants that can pass as human.


	19. Volume 4: Chapter 1: Royal Segway

_**Volume 4: Re-Estize Chapter 1: Royal Segway**_

Once the girls left the room Tri'ade felt ready to talk about the next order of business. "Now there's the matter of Eight Fingers to discuss. This place has been compromised. From the reports I've received from the Shadow Demons, there's at least one team watching the entrance of this place. Though I suppose calling them a team would be generous."

Sebas looked around the room. "Should we abandon this place? It will be difficult to continue our mission if they continue to interfere." Sebas said calmly in his usual stoic tone.

Putting his hand on his cheek, Tri'ade thought about it for a moment before saying, "That is the safest option but... it feels like a wasted opportunity to leave now",

Their master sounded almost wistful at the prospect of leaving. It surprised Sebas. "My Lord?"

With his free hand Demiurge pushed up his glasses as he remarked, "What our Lord means is that thanks to you, we have excellent bait to draw Eight Fingers out."

"You don't mean…" Sebas paused thinking what Demiurge was implying was that they should use Tuare as bait for Eight Fingers. "What would that accomplish?"

"We require both intelligence and resources. Preferably in ways that do not reveal our hand to the wider world. An organization like Eight Fingers would be most useful."

Demiurge was always explaining what Tri'ade truly meant to the others. At this point Demiurge might as well assume the position of his own mouth. While it might have been helpful at times, it annoyed Tri'ade. "Demiurge. While you are correct. I do not like it when you put words in my mouth. If I wish to say something, I'll say it."

The sly devil at his right looked visibly shocked at his master's words and genuflected. "My apologies, Lord. It was never my intention to do so."

"I know, Demiurge. I just needed to say that." Tri'ade motioned him to rise again.

"Then my lord," Sebas asked with hesitation, "What do you intend?"

"Well, Demiurge is right. Eight Fingers would be a boon to control. But we'll need more information about their operations than what we could get from those hunting you. You worked with someone to take down the brothel. Who was he?"

Nodding, Sebas gave his master the answer he desired, " A brave soldier named Climb assisted me. From what he told me, he serves under Lady Renner."

Surprised, Tri'ade tried to confirm what Sebas had said, "As in Princess Renner?"

"Yes, Lord."

Tapping his fingers on the armchair of his seat Tri'ade thought out loud the implications of this, " It would make sense for the Golden Princess to oppose Eight Fingers given her reputation. She might have more information about Eight Fingers than we do."

Demiurge smiled. "She is a very interesting individual. If you would permit me, I would like to look into her and what she knows."

This request surprised both Tri'ade and Sebas. Demiurge didn't have any stealth skills and Tri'ade knew how much he enjoyed his work at the so-called Happy Farm. For Renner to catch Demiurge's interest despite all this suggested he saw something special in her.

Sebas didn't know what Demiurge had planned for Renner but he didn't assume it was anything good. Placing his hand over his chest, Sebas bowed to his master as he made a suggestion, "My lord. I believe It might be better If I approached Lady Renner. Considering our mutual association with Climb."

Demiurge interjected immediately. "Approaching Renner will require subtlety and discretion. Given your recent failure, do you really think you can handle it?

Sebas recoiled from that retort. It was true he had failed to keep a low profile thanks to the kindness he had shown Tuare. While his master had forgiven him, the knowledge he had failed at all pained him. "I have learned from my mistake. I will not repeat it."

Tri'ade meanwhile watched as Sebas and Demiurge bicker. It reminded him of the verbal fights their creators Touch Me and Ulbert would get into. For a moment it felt like he was back with his friends in the Great Tomb discussing what to do next. He could only smile as the memories came back to him, but only for a moment. Cocytus interrupted the two who were bickering as the conversation got heated by slamming the butt of his Halberd on the floor.

"Enough! Calm. Yourselves. We. Are. In. The. Presence. Of. The Supreme. One."

Both Demiurge and Sebas apologized for their behavior and it was up to Tri'ade to get the conversation back on track. Since it was his fault to begin with that things got out of hand after losing focus.

"Thank you, Cocytus. Getting back to the topic at hand. Demiurge, you have my permission to investigate Princess Renner. Sebas, you will have your chance to serve by baiting a trap for Eight Finger's muscle."

Sebas's face grew grim as he heard his Master's orders . It had seemed Demiurge had won the argument soundly and that his suggested plans for Eight Fingers were being pursued.

Dejected, Sebas looked towards the exit, "I see. I shall prepare Miss Tuare then."

Before Sebas could leave, Tri'ade stopped him. "Not so fast, Sebas. She is under our protection. It would do us no good to use her as bait."

Blinking at Tri'ade's words, Sebas was surprised, "Then my lord, what should I do?"

Pushing his glasses up Demiurge asked Sebas, "Must Lord Tri'ade spell everything out for you?" Sebas could only offer a glare back at Demiurge in response. Tri'ade interjected before another argument could flare up. "Solution is best suited for the role. Even if they search her Eight Fingers will never be able to find anything on her. As far as they're concerned, she's your employer." Tri'ade paused for a moment and smiled wickedly. "Plus, I think she will enjoy it."

A warm smile appeared on Sebas's face, "Yes, I believe she will." Sebas knew Solution had few chances of serving the Supreme Beings on this trip. Her entire job up till this point was playing the role of a noble's daughter as cover for Sebas' activities. Solution had not eaten a single human up till this point.

"Peter and his friends can assist you in capturing Eight Fingers operatives for interrogation."

"Are you sure about sending them? They're humans after all."

"Ninya should have an opportunity to taste revenge. She was denied it when Sebas destroyed the brothel. It'll be good for her."

Crossing his arms, Demiurge looked at his master. "Your concern for her is touching. Though I'm curious... What do you plan to do, my lord?"

"Me? I'm just going to see a friend."

* * *

Tri'ade and Narberal walked down the streets of the Upper District. Away from the Mansions of the wealthy part of the district, many smaller homes were built in close proximity to one another. While not the stuff of noblemen they were fairly large abodes, two stories tall with tiled roofs rather than the thatch one would find in other parts of the Kingdom. The light of midday reflected itself off its glass windows and it was painted white just like any other building in the city.

It reminded Tri'ade more of the medieval style of building he was growing familiar with rather than the brickwork of the mansion. One could see from outside the wooden beams that supported the walls of the house as if they were a frame on a blank white canvas.

This was Gazef Stronoff's home. Tri'ade had discerned its location by using the Mirror of Remote Viewing to locate Gazef. So he knew the Chief Warrior was home. He felt a bit awkward arriving unannounced like this to Gazef's home. Not just because it might be seen as impolite, but he wasn't quite certain what he could do here that could be of benefit to Nazarick. Ostensibly it was just another approach in their efforts to learn about Eight Fingers but he personally doubted if Gazef and the King knew much of value in that regard.

He had decided this course of action because it might be seen as somewhat rude not to seek out Gazef once it became known Tri'ade arrived in the Capital. That was bound to happen after word of Sebas' rescue of his employer began to spread. That and he felt having himself, Sebas and Peter's group take on Eight Fingers would be overkill. With Sebas there, he didn't need to worry about any of them getting killed. After his screw up with Tuare, Sebas should be more cautious from now on. That guy probably was thinking of all the ways he was going to make it up to Tri'ade as his master stood outside of Gazef's house.

After a while, Tri'ade went up to knock on the door. There was no door knocker that he could see to use. Not wanting to damage the wooden door, he tapped it with his armored knuckles with care. A moment later an old woman in what looked to be commoner's clothes answered the door.

"Oh?" she said in astonishment, gazing upon Tri'ade's majestic armor the likes of which she could hardly have dreamt of. "Milord." She did a small bow. After spending a lifetime as a servant she was well rehearsed in how to greet noblemen and seeing how expensive Tri'ade's attire was, she assumed he might as well be one. "Might I ask your purpose here this evening?"

"I'm Tri'ade Nazarick," motioning over to Narberal, "and this is my apprentice, Narberal Gamma. We're here to see the Warrior-Captain."

"Sire, my apologies, but the Warrior-Captain just arrived back from the palace and we are preparing dinner."

 _Dinner at this time of day? More like lunch._

"Sorry for my poor timing. We only just arrived in the Capital. Could you inform him that I'm here?"

Without showing an ounce of annoyance at the inconvenience of his arrival at the door, the old lady bowed her head. "Of course, Please wait here."

The old lady closed the door and after a few minutes of waiting it opened again. This time Gazef himself was the one opening the door to meet them. Of course he wasn't in his armor like Tri'ade was. He had just arrived home from the Royal Palace and was still in what appeared to be formal attire.

His clothing was navy blue with brass buttons and trimmings that had a similar color to the buttons. Tri'ade felt it resembled some sort of officer's uniform but the collar was bizarre. It had a regular collar but had some sort of secondary collar the same color as the trimming that reached up to Gazef's chin but only covered the sides as to cover the neck completely from everywhere but the front.

"Sir Tri'ade, it really is you. And this beauty beside you must be Narberal."

"Gazef." Tri'ade tipped his head to Gazef in response. Narberal did not bow or give a greeting to Gazef but only nodded along with her master.

"I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon. Come on in, both of you. " That was to be expected. It had only been a week or so since runners from the capital delivered the letter to invite Tri'ade to a royal feast. Those runners rode on horseback so it should have taken Tri'ade about that long or longer for him to arrive at the capital. Hence the reason why the King had set the date of the feast to take place next month to give time for their guests to travel. But Tri'ade of course didn't travel to the capital conventionally, so he had to make up an excuse for that.

"I got a contract here in the capital." Tri'ade said as he stepped through the doorway and into Gazef's home. It was a well furnished lodging, unlike the peasant hut they met in last time. A home suitable for a merchant or the like. The floors appeared to be some sort of stone foundation, large smoothed down rocks in between with something like cement was used to fill in the space between them. Large rugs draped the floors in front of the door and other living areas presumably to offset how cold they would get. Chandeliers enchanted with [Continual Light] hung upon the ceiling but they looked rather simple in design. Nothing like the ornate ones that could be found in the mansion Sebas had rented out.

"Is that so?" Turning his head to what appeared to be a kitchen area, Gazef shouted, " Giselle! Prepare two more plates for our guests!" Their host then led them to a simple table with a white tablecloth on it. Upon it was what appeared to be Gazef's "dinner". A bottle of wine and plate with a bowl of soup on top of it. A few slices of loafed bread were set in the middle of the table.

Gazef sat at one end of the table where his plate was while Tri'ade decided to take the seat on the opposite end while Narberal sat upon the right end of the table to her Master's side. The old servant Giselle walked behind Narberal from the kitchen with two more plates with soup bowls with empty glasses sitting on the edges of the plate. She then silently departed to another part of the house, leaving Gazef and his new lunch guests alone. Gazef poured wine from the bottle into the two empty glasses handing them to his guests.

"I know it's not much, but what kind of host would I be if I offered nothing to my guests?"

Tri'ade took a sip of wine before replying. "It's fine. We didn't come here for food but for the company." Tri'ade said as he raised his glass to Gazef.

Gazef laughed in response to Tri'ade saying, "Why would you ever want my company when you have this famous beauty travelling with you? I mean I heard the rumors about her being as beautiful as the Princess but I didn't believe them until now."

Narberal blushed at Gazef's comments which surprised Tri'ade. Normally she would get angry at such attention. _Maybe it was what Gazef was suggesting?_ Triade thought. Faking a long sigh in jest he replied, "I hope you don't fall in love with her too. She has enough trouble with suitors as it is. She doesn't need the strongest warrior in the Kingdom after her too."

"Heh, well I wouldn't want to trouble her. But I might not deserve the reputation of being the strongest warrior anymore. I heard you killed Brain Unglaus."

Taking another sip of wine, Tri'ade noticed the shift in mood. "Were you close?"

Staring into his drink, Gazef didn't look at Tri'ade. "Can't say that we were. I fought him in the Royal Tournament. Brain is-was a talented swordsman."

Thinking back on the mission to eliminate the bandits Tri'ade did remember the Mayor warning him about Brain. "Huh. I did hear Brain took second place. Can't say he impressed me though. Didn't even scratch my armor."

Gazef chuckled remarking "You're the only one in the world who could say that."

"Probably. No amount of talent can beat over a century worth of combat experience."

 _Considering I did play YGGDRASIL as Tri'ade for twelve years IRL, my avatar is probably several centuries old. Ingame time was several times faster than IRL. Though the day and night cycle differed between the nine realms it was still much faster than real life._

Gazef stared at Tri'ade with a blank expression for a bit after recovering. "You really are like that old caster."

Tri'ade honed in Gazef's focus on age " Don't like thinking about my age. I feel old when I do." Shifting in his seat he decided to steer the conversation into another direction " Anyways I didn't just come here to brag. I wanted your input on something."

"Yes...?"

"What do you know about Eight Fingers?"

"They're a blight upon the Kingdom. All the criminals in Re-Estize answer to them in some way."

"And no one's moved against them? Not even the King or hell, even another group of criminals?"

Pouring himself another glass of wine, Gazef took a swig before continuing, "Eight Fingers has too many nobles under their numb and any competition gets crushed, killed by Six Arms. For the King to move against them we would have to risk assaulting one of their hideouts and hope to acquire something incriminating in the process. It's risky. If nothing turns up, the King would suffer the reprisals from corrupt nobles."

"Six Arms?"

 _This naming convention of theirs is all backwards. Wouldn't an arm be superior to a finger? At least groups with names like the infamous Black Hand had sensible terminology. With members being fingers and their servants being nails._

Looking over to Narberal, he noticed she wasn't eating her meal. Thinking it rude to not at least take a bit of a meal offered Tri'ade tried some. It was some kind of thick soup with peas and vegetables. Growing up and going well into adulthood Tri'ade had never liked to eat peas or vegetables in general. It made things difficult when he first moved to Japan but he mostly ate fast food.

"Six Arms is their hired muscle. A group of six who are strong as adamanatite level adventurers… You don't have to force yourself to eat." Gazef said this as Tri'ade gagged as he swallowed a mixture of peas and boiled grain. It seemed his revulsion of peas carried over in this next life.

"Lord!" Narberal rushed to Tri'ade's side placing her hands on his back. Clearing his throat he reassured Narberal. "I'm alright." It was touching to see her so concerned for him but Tri'ade thought it was a bit much.

Standing next to her master Narberal glared at Gazef who could only apologize. "Sorry miss. Like I said, your lord did not need to force himself."

Glancing over at Narberal Tri'ade realized her mistake. She had referred to him as Lord rather than Master. But it was probably too late to pretend to be of common stock. After all peasants kept on assuming he was anyways.

"I've tasted poison before and it went down easier than this soup of yours." Tri'ade said jokingly trying to lessen the tension in the air after Narberal's patent death glare. It got a chuckle out of Gazef.

"Anyways, why so interested in criminals? Are they why you're here in the capital?"

"Yes…." Tri'ade went on to explain to Gazef the "reason" he was in the capital. It was a spin of the truth as Tri'ade often liked his lies. That he originally was in the capital to rescue Tuare after getting word she might be here and after hearing Sebas' employer was kidnapped in retaliation, he had offered Darkness' assistance. Granted Sebas and his "employer" worked for Tri'ade, but Gazef didn't need to know that. It made for a better story that way.

After hearing it Gazef immediately offered to introduce Tri'ade to Princess Renner after informing him of the operation she was planning against Eight Fingers to happen this very night. He was surprised at first. Tri'ade didn't expect another operation right after the brothel being hit by Climb and Sebas. This Climb must be quite a strong warrior, he thought, to go after another target right after that assault on the brothel. Sebas certainly seemed to hold him in high regard..

After Gazef finished his meal he became their guide to Ro Lente Castle which was situated on a hill within the capital city itself. The castle itself was older than the capital which surrounded it. The Kings of Re-estize were once lesser noblemen of a more ancient kingdom which encompassed the area which both the Re-estize Kingdom and Baharuth Empire resided in. But that kingdom was shattered by the events of the Demon Gods two centuries ago.

When Ro Lente Castle became the residence of the Kings of Re-Estize the capital grew from a simple village to a city containing upward of a million residents. It was there where the Valancia Palace was located in. As part of the castle's multiple expansions and renovations the palace consisted of three innermost sections of the castle.

As they journeyed together to the palace, the glow of the afternoon sun was still high in the sky. As they drew closer to the palace, Tri'ade received a message from Sebas. Eight Fingers had taken the bait and kidnapped Solution when he had left the mansion to do meaningless errands. They left a ransom note behind at the mansion indicating where and when they should meet. Luckily enough it was set for tonight so things were coming together nicely.

Gazef escorted them through the castle and allowed them passage into the Valancia Palace and got them past the Royal Knights guarding it. He was taking them into the royal residences to meet King Ramposa III before seeing Princess Renner. Not the Throne Room in the Palace like Tri'ade assumed they would be going to but within the personal rooms of the royal family. Gazef told him that his majesty had wanted to meet with him since he told him about Tri'ade's actions at Carne Village.

The meeting room Gazef had taken them to was as finely decorated as every other room had been and had a long wooden table at its center. Ornate wooden chairs with long backs and padded seats were arrayed around the table. With one of them at the end of the table being the largest and ornate of them all. It had two towering spires that flanked the back of the chair while red cloth and golden dye were used to depict the Re-Estize Royal Crest upon it.

This room was likely a regular meeting place for the King and his close advisors. A less formal arrangement than meeting in the Throne Room itself. The King himself was nowhere to be found. Gazef explained he would be bringing his majesty to him shortly and for Tri'ade and Narberal to wait. Tri'ade took a seat and Narberal sat alongside him on one side of the table while they waited for the King to arrive.

And they waited. While they did, Tri'ade got a bit nervous. It would be the first time he ever met a ruler of a country. True he had sent that letter to the Cardinals of the Slane Theocracy but he had never met someone with such authority face to face like this. Whatever he did here would set the pattern of how they interact with the Re-Estize Kingdom going forward.

If he obfuscated things too much with King Ramposa III it might lead to a hostile relationship with the Re-Estize Kingdom despite the initial friendly stance they might have had thanks to his actions at Carne Village. While taking over Eight Fingers might not seem to be a positive step forward in developing a lasting friendship with the Re-Estize Kingdom it was important to note the King did not represent all of his subjects.

His Majesty's grip on power was tenuous at best. Given the mere existence of the noble faction, his advanced age and elements within the Kingdom itself helping to try to assassinate Gazef, that much was obvious. Tri'ade could very well foster an amicable relationship with his majesty to Nazarick's benifit and then lose it when he dies. Better to have an underground spy network, one which Eight Fingers could provide, in case things turned for the worse in the Kingdom.

That also makes telling his majesty anything dangerous as well. Since the Royal Court is compromised by moles working for the Slane Theocracy and possibly other nations, anything he says could be leaked across the continent. That could pose a threat to Nazarick. Because what Tri'ade was doing in the Forest of Tob was essentially creating a nation of monsters in the middle of human territory.

Feeling threatened, elements within the neighboring nations might send a punitive force into the forest. That would certainly threaten his new assets. Though as he thought on it... if handled correctly, it could be a good casus belli against another nation.

What exactly did his majesty want? The mayor of E-Rantel suggested that the King may have wanted to hire Tri'ade like his majesty has employed Gazef but he had already refused that offer. The whole invitation to that feast was obviously a roundabout way to get each other in the same room together. Maybe in order for the King to try for himself to somehow convince Tri'ade to help his floundering Kingdom.

The repeated sound of tapping began to resound in the room as Tri'ade thought on these things and more during the long period they were left alone in the room. It was the sound of Tri'ade nervously tapping on the wooden desk with his gauntlet.

Narberal misinterpreted it as her Lord becoming dissatisfied with the situation remarked. "The gall of that insignificant flea! Making you wait like this."

"It's alright. One shouldn't get mad at things like this. It might be that the King is busy. Considering his responsibilities and our impromptu arrival the wait is forgivable. Or it might be part of a strategy to unsettle us. If it's the latter do not give him the satisfaction of seeing you angry."

Her face softened in a sort of awed realization of what Tri'ade said. "Ah, I see. As expected of the one chosen by the Supreme Beings to lead them. You think of everything."

 _Sometimes I wish I could stop thinking. I hate all this tiptoeing over my words and actions. Of what could be, what might happen. I need to focus._

When Tri'ade heard the door to the room open he stood up from his seat. Gazef was the first into the room but behind him was a grey wizened old man wearing a golden crown and walking with the assistance of a gilded cane. Behind him was a blonde haired woman with a small crown on her head flanked by a young man in mythril armor.

It had taken Tri'ade aback seeing how old the King looked. From all his servants had gathered King Ramposa III had reigned for thirty nine years and was around sixty years old. Perhaps it was the stress of the job but the man looked older than that to Tri'ade. However despite his frail appearance one could see a firm gaze in his majesty's eyes that showed his determination to carry himself forward.

"Allow me to introduce King Ramposa the Third and his daughter Princess Renner."

Feeling it a bit ill-mannered to keep his face concealed when speaking to a King, Tri'ade used [Viel] to conceal his demonic attributes and removed his golden mask when addressing the royal company before him.

"An honor to meet you both. I am Tri'ade Nazarick and this is my companion, Narberal Gamma." Tri'ade said as he motioned over to Narberal next to him as he introduced her.

Princess Renner did a little curtsey. "No it's an honor to meet you. I've heard so much about you from the Warrior-Captain."

The King took his seat at the table while his daughter Princess Renner took the seat opposite of Tri'ade. Both Gazef and the young man in mythril plate armor remained standing next to their lieges.

"Please sit. Like my daughter said, it's an honor to meet a hero like yourself. You saved the lives of my warriors and brought those responsible for the massacre of entire villages to justice. You have my deepest thanks."

Tri'ade sat back down but Narberal continued to stand. She even moved to flank Tri'ade trying to mimic how Gazef and the young mythril lad were standing next to their leiges. This attempt not to embarrass her Lord drew the eye of Princess Renner but she remained silent as Tri'ade spoke to her father the King.

"Your words are generous. I only did what I needed to do."

"Yet you intend to fight Eight Fingers?" King Ramposa asked with a hint of skepticism.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep at night If I did nothing. Not after Sebas saved Tuare from that brothel." Tri'ade averted his gaze from his majesty and looked to Princess Renner as he said this.

This statement by Tri'ade prompted Princess Renner to finally speak and she did so with a sad look on her face. "The guard recovered many wounded from that place. It's unbelievable the wounds those women suffered. If I didn't see it for myself, I would never have imagined such cruelty could exist"

"Princess." The mythril clad lad said in a whispered tone with a look of concern across his face. This lad obviously had a closer connection to the Princess than a mere bodyguard which provoked Tri'ade to ask, "But that is more reason why we must bring Eight Fingers down. So more people don't have to suffer." The Princess smiled at the man next to her who blushed crimson at the sight of her.

"Who is this Knight, Gazef?" Tri'ade pointed to the boy clad in mythril plate next to Princess Renner.

"Huh?! I-I'm no Knight. I'm just her highness's bodyguard." The blond haired boy put his hand over his heart as he spoke.

Gazef answered Tri'ade, "My apologies. That is Climb. Normally commoners aren't given introductions in meetings between nobility."

"Oh, you're the one who fought along side Sebas." Tri'ade said out loud.

"Yes. But saying that gives me too much credit. Lord Sebas saved me after I fell to Succulent. And after having dealt with everyone else in the building."

King Ramposa III looked at Climb and Princess Renner. Thinking on the implications of what might have happened if Sebas hadn't helped in Climb's reckless attack on the brothel. "For that act this Sebas is another I would like to personally thank. But from what the Warrior-Captain has told me he's the one in need of aid?"

Waving his majesty's concerns off, Tri'ade rebuffed his implied offer of aid. "My team is already on it, but I'm interested in coordinating our efforts to help the Princess' efforts tonight."

Slightly bowing her head to Tri'ade the Princess thanked him. "That would be appreciated. Even with Blue Rose and Marquis Raeven's men we still don't have enough people to hit all eight locations at once."

 _Blue Rose? Interesting. What's their stake in this? Nevermind..._

Shifting gears, Tri'ade brushed that thought aside as he reassured the Princess, "We can easily split up Darkness to remedy that."

Next he asked a question that had been nagging him since the King had entered the room. He stressed the next word he said carefully as he shifted his gaze to King Ramposa. "But your majesty, I was under the impression you wished to meet me regarding another matter."

The King looked somewhat surprised at this and looked at Gazef who shook his head. Turning his gaze back to Tri'ade he answered, "That impression is not mistaken. I wished to properly thank you for your service to Re-Estize. Your continued service to Re-Estize reaffirms my belief such actions should be encouraged."

 _Ah, here it is. His offer to hire me to help him prop up his crumbling kingdom. I thought I rejected such nonsense when I spoke with Mayor Panasolei._

King Ramposa III reached his hand over towards Gazef gave him a large scroll. As the King put it on the table Tri'ade could see the royal seal upon it. That is before his majesty broke it and unfurled the document. Neither Tri'ade nor Narberal could read the Kingdom's script so they didnt know what it contained but the Princess gasped in surprise.

"That's a Noble Title! Are you serious about this, father?" Princess Renner exclaimed

While Narberal remained stoic about this, Tri'ade went wide eyed. He hadn't expected the King to go so far as that. After all, Gazef Stronoff's title of Warrior-Captain was due to the fact he couldn't receive a title of nobility himself.

Her father the King nodded to Princess Renner. "Absolutely. The attacks on the villages demonstrate the need for capable nobles on the frontier. And I could think of none better than the hero of Carne and E-Rantel."

"You want to give me, a non-human foreigner, a title of nobility." Tri'ade was still shocked at Ramposa's proposal. In any other circumstance, it was incredibly generous but he knew the NPC's would never accept it. A supreme being swearing vassalage to a human ruler.

"Yes." The old man that was king of an entire nation of xenophobic humans confirmed he was handing land over to a foreign alien.

"H-How? From what I understand, the noble faction, your enemies, prevented you from making him a noble." Tri'ade said as he pointed to Gazef. "A commoner he is but he's native to the Kingdom and human. They will have a field day with this."

King Ramposa dismissively waved away Tri'ade's concerns. "It is well within my power to grant parcels of my own land to whomever I wish. The nobles may control the Noble Heraldic Council but they have no say on who receives a fief."

With hand over his mouth, Tri'ade contemplated what the King suggested only for a moment before replying. "I can't accept this."

It was Ramposa's turn to go wide eyed as he tried to respond "The fief in question is the city of-"

Tri'ade raised his hand to signal to him to stop as he interrupted the King. "It doesn't matter. I have a responsibility to my people. That is more important to me than anything else."

"The Elves?" Princes Renner asked curiously with a smile. Tri'ade looked at her for a moment considering how to answer the question before looking back at Gazef and the King. Tri'ade remembered how much he had told Gazef in Carne about being a guild leader of adventurers from a foreign land and having followers. He knew he couldn't refute what he had already told them. Tri'ade could only hope he didn't screw things up as he continued to speak, "The people of Ainz Ooal Gown. My guild, those who came with me to this land unwillingly."

King Ramposa looked over to Gazef and then back to Tri'ade "Gazef did mention that. Your welcome to manage your lands however you like. I fail to see the issue there."

A stern expression spread across Tri'ade's face as he revealed his motivation "There are a great many races who are apart of Ainz Ooal Gown not just elves and humans."

 _Biggest understatement ever but not a lie._

Ignoring the surprised looks he got from the King and Gazef, Tri'ade continued "While I'm sure a good man like you who has earned Gazef's loyalty would not mind non-humans settling in your land I doubt others would. I'd rather not make myself more enemies by becoming your vassal."

"Don't your people need a home?" The King said, still trying to convince Tri'ade to reconsider. It surprised Tri'ade that revealing he had non-human followers didn't phase the King in the slightest in trying to recruit him. Though perhaps Tri'ade thought the fact he had tamed the Legendary Wise King of the Forest might have helped him accept that fact more readily.

"Yes. That's why we have begun settling the Forest of Tob." Turning to look Gazef in the eye Tri'ade spoke to him directly ""Albedo is busy back home managing things in my absence."

Gazef nodded "I see. That explains it." The Warrior-Captain obviously had been wondering why the Lady Albedo wasnt traveling on the road with him.

Scratching his beard, the King asked, "Just thow many people are in this guild of yours?"

"Well.."Tri'ade took a moment figuring it out in his head. _I have to count NPCs as people don't I? Considering they, in all sense of the word, are people now, though they are not technically guild members. But what about respawnable pops? Are they people? Should I try talking to a few of them when I get back?_ Deciding he was taking too long he gave a vague answer. " A few thousand at least. It's hard to know. More keep people joining us.

Stunned to silence, King Ramposa began to absorb what was said as he slumped down in his chair. It was obvious to Tri'ade that what he had said shocked the king. Rampossa had intended to make him a Lord only to find out Tri'ade was one already.

"Still wouldn't it be better for them if they moved to the Kingdom, Sir Tri'ade? They don't need to risk life and death fighting monsters for a place to live." Renner asked, seeming to try to help her father.

Crossing his arms Tri'ade spoke bluntly, "I know what to expect fighting monsters. But I would rather not live in Re-Estize when it comes time to choose a new King."

This statement provoked the King to ask, "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you know. The situation in the kingdom is ripe for a war of succession. The nobility polarized into factions, and there being no worthy heir to succeed you. The nobles are going to tear each other apart fighting over which son to support."

"The Great Nobles wouldn't be so foolish to fight amongst each other with the Empire threatening Re-estize."

Nearly going into a rant, Tri'ade responded with fervor, slamming his hand on the table. "Never underestimate fools! Remember how Gazef was nearly killed? They plotted with the very same people who killed hundreds of your subjects to settle a grievance. Imagine what they will do to grasp at the throne."

Issuing out a long, drawn out sigh Tri'ade continued, "I would like to help. But I won't endanger my people needlessly."

Before the King could issue a reply, Princess Renner asked, "Then why are you willing to help me?"

"Sorry?" The question had taken Tri'ade off guard.

"Forgive me but I'm confused. Attacking Eight Fingers carries a great deal of risk even if we are successful. So why put your people at risk?" Renner continued looking at Tri'ade with a slight smile on her face.

Growing a bit pale as he tried to think of an answer, Tri'ade blurted out, "We were promised lot of gold form the girl's family"

"Oh?"

Remembering how the villages at Carne eased off their suspicions of him once reward was mentioned Tri'ade said with more confidence."Yes! My people need gold to purchase food, and other supplies. It's the reason why I became an adventurer in the first place."

Clasping both of his hands together Tri'ade steepled his fingers and leaned back into his chair as he continued to explain. "And I'm also confident my team can handle whatever Eight Fingers can throw at us."

Sighing King Ramposa conceded. "While I'm disappointed you feel that way Sir… No Lord Tri'ade. I still intend to reward you. It seems gold will have to suffice."

Leaning forward now Tri'ade proposed his own offer to the King "Rather than gold there is something more precious that you can grant me. Recognition."

Eyeing him curiously Ramposa wondered what Tri'ade meant. "Recognition? I already recognize your accomplishments"

"No recognition of Ainz Ooal Gown's claim to the Great Forest of Tob as an independent nation. I'd also like to establish trade ties and space for an embassy."

As the King slowly thought on his proposal Tri'ade began to fear if he had been too harsh with the King in rebuking his offer.

 _Fuck me. I have zero bloody experience as a politician! And I definitely said way, way too much. Stupid. Stupid. What kind of devil has trouble telling lies?!_

Despite his natural fire resistance, Tri'ade could feel himself getting hot. While he did his best to keep his poker face during this discussion, he wished he could put his mask back on. He felt exposed having it off.

Finally King Ramposa the Third spoke. "If your people can ensure the cessation of monster attacks on villages bordering the forest I will recognize your nation. Along with space for your embassy and gold in thanks for your service to my people."

Relieved to hear this, Tri'ade responded, "Of course! You have my promise on that. I hope to establish permanent patrols within the forest by the end of the year."

With the difficult part seeming to be over with, Tri'ade got excited about the prospect of building relations with Re-estize."Also to facilitate trade I was thinking of establishing a road between Castle Tob and Carne Village."

"Oh, you have a castle of your own?" Princess Renner asked.

"It's under construction. I plan on having it become the capital of Ainz Ooal Gown once its complete. We recently found a suitable quarry to get material for proper fortifications. Speaking of that, I'm thinking of making the road to Carne Village a paved road in the future I hope you will do the same for the road to Carne."

The conversation between Tri'ade, Princess Renner and King Ramposa lasted for more than a hour mostly due to Tri'ade's passion speaking about future policy involving his guild and the Re-Estize Kingdom. Though there was some contention regarding the collection of herbs in the forest by Re-Estize villages neighboring the forest.

In the end though most things hinged on whether or not Tri'ade could fulfill on his promise of security against monster attacks. Which he kept vague about lest he leak too much about Nazarick's true strength. Tri'ade felt like he had already revealed too much of his hand already. Though he felt better about it after getting the King to agree on a number of things already, including paying for the paved roads to Carne Village from E-Rantel.

"I hope we can build a lasting friendship." Tri'ade said as their conversation drew to a close.

"Heh, a lasting friendship with a kingdom you think doomed?" The King joked. Seeing the normally somber King act this way caused Tri'ade to laugh.

"I never said that!" Tri'ade courteously responded. "Kingdoms can survive war and hardship. Given the right leadership and plenty of luck. I wish you have plenty of the latter if only for Gazef's sake." Looking to Gazef, Tri'ade smiled jovially at the Warrior-Captain who smiled back. The man had been silent throughout much of his conversation with his liege, out of respect no doubt, but he noticed the slight smile the man had worn during his long conversation about policy with the King.

Grabbing his cane, King Ramposa the Third slowly got up from his large ornate chair. "It's been a most… interesting experience talking with you. I will leave you to discuss what to do with Eight Fingers with my daughter."

His majesty the King left the room with the Warrior-Captain following behind him. Gazef silently followed behind him for several minutes down the hallway until he began speaking to his friend, his royal liege.

"Tri'ade never stops surprising me." Gazef said amazed at what happened in the room they just left.

Continuing to walk forward King Ramposa replied to him without looking back, "To think an adamantite adventurer had an interest in ruling a nation of monsters. That man is a mystery."

"The fact he told us, your majesty, shows his trust in you."

Recalling how Tri'ade called him a good man, King Ramposa said as he continued to walk, "He trusts you. I never imagined that he would be so afraid of humans as to deny a title of nobility. We don't need adventurers messing things up. I'll need you to send word to the guild master to meet with me."

Gazef nodded out of reflex accepting his King's commands. "Understood. But Tri'ade never struck me as someone who was afraid of anything."

Stopping where he stood King Ramposa stood silent for a moment. "The fear one can get for the lives under you. Those you're responsible for. I can understand his feelings on that. I felt the same when I gave you your orders sending you into that trap."

"Your majesty…" Gazef knew how much King Ramposa blamed himself for allowing the nobles to stop him from using the Royal Treasures on his mission. Nothing he said since returning from Carne Village seemed to convince his majesty otherwise.

Tapping his cane on the floor as he walked, King Ramposa turned to look Gazef directly in the eyes. "If this Ainz Ooal Gown organization can deliver on even half of what Tri'ade spoke of, they'd be valuable allies." Breaking direct eye contact he continue, "Though it might be difficult to do given Tri'ade's views."

Gazef tried to console his liege. "Given time I'm sure you can change his mind your majesty."

Redirecting his gaze back to the Warrior-Captain the King gave a retort, "Time is not on my side. We need to acquire an advantage, anything to break the stalemate between the royalists and the noble faction. Between the Kingdom and the Empire."

Looking out the window with a view of the skyline of Re-Estize and the setting sun on the horizon, he continued, "And we had best do so before the Emperor tries to do the same."

* * *

 _ **Afterword**_

This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous two. It's mostly because for reasons I didn't get much done in the month of January this year. Between work, getting sick again and a new new games to say the least I didn't have much focus writing new material. As the 20th of February approached my self imposed deadline of that date for the next chapter update did help me focus in getting back into writing. That and work easing up and getting over my sickness helped. I'm rather proud of the work I did do in this chapter.

As some of you readers SHOULD know I did set up a schedule of one chapter every 2 months in order to make those large 13-14k word chapters you guys like so much. I didn't get to a proper ending point in the chapters story with that amount of length this time. But I do have around 2k words already written for the next chapter cutting off set up scenes for the battles against Eight Fingers. In fact this Chapter WAS supposed to involve those battles but the character interactions in these meetings ate up most of my time.

I'll try to write more to get something ready for March 20th to make up for the fact of this chapter's only 7,500ish word length. Given my progress on writing this month it should be doable.


	20. Volume Omega: The Last Chapter

**_Volume Omega-Last Chapter: The End (April Fools Chapter)_**

 ** _*Note to all readers: Publish Date of Volume Omega is April 1st 2019. (April Fools)_**

After Ainz Ooal Gown's victory in Re-Estize in capturing Eight Fingers and posing as the Kingdom's saviors against Jaldabaoth, Tri'ade capitalized on the opportunity. After having Ainz Ooal Gown being recognized as its own nation by King Ramposa the Third, Tri'ade ordered his network of informants and Shadow Demons to assassinate every candidate in line for the Throne of Re-Estize except Princess Renner.

The Baharuth Empire capitalized on this by launching a serious invasion of the Re-Estize Kingdom for the first time only to find Tri'ade at the head of the newly created Legion of the Damned, an army of legendary undead. Princess Renner became Tri'ade's second wife to seal the alliance between Ainz Ooal Gown and herself which quickly resulted in terms of vassalage.

Rather than killing the Imperial Legions, Tri'ade used [Command Mantra] to imprison them all and used their lives as leverage against the Bloody Emperor in order to force him to swear vassalage and force himself to additionally style himself as a King rather than an Emperor. For there can only be one Supreme Emperor of Nazarick's Empire.

The Theocracy was scared shitless and proceeded to do jack all while this was happening. Later, Tri'ade led the Legion of the Dammed to push back the Beastmen and acquired the Dragon Queen Draudillon Oriculus as his third wife. Once the Dragon Kingdom was secure he went and conquered the Beastman Kingdom in an effort to secure the border and took hostages of the ruling families relatives to ensure their compliance.

Demiurge, posing as Jaldabaoth, invaded the Roble Holy Kingdom and Tri'ade repeated what he did in the Dragon Kingdom in the Roble Kingdom by taking the Holy Queen Calca Bessarez as a fourth wife. During the liberation of the Kingdom Tri'ade bitch slapped and scolded the childish Remedios, the Captain of the Holy Queen's order of Paladins about the true nature of justice.

The leaders of the tribes under Jaldabaoth were killed in battle to prevent any who saw Jaldabaoth to put two and two together to figure out the true purpose of their forced invasion of Roble. The death of many in Clan Rajandala forced a female member of the Zoastia clan to inherit Demon Claw. This beast woman became Tri'ade's sixth wife and the tribes of Albion Hills were reorganized into a Kingdom under her.

Surrounded and with some prompting by Tri'ade, the Theocracy managed to do something stupid and gave him a good reason for the invasion of their territories. Said reason was not the rape of one of Tri'ade's supremely powerful yet inexperienced servants. And it certainly didn't take several years to recover from while there are things like memory manipulation magic and magic that can literally grant any wish you desire.

Tri'ade subsequently butchered the Black Scripture and bitch slapped Zesshi so hard she came immediately, becoming another one of his countless willing cocksleeves. The Theocracy was thoroughly pwned, but rather than wrecking the place, he simply demanded the Theocracy force the old cardinals to retire and recognize a seventh church with its own cardinal to head it. The church's following being the ever growing numbers of people worshipping Tri'ade as a living god.

Soon enough, the Church of Nazerick's Cardinal became Pontifex Maximus of the Slane Theocracy. Suitably enough, this Cardinal was Ninya who was regarded as Tri'ade's first human disciple despite the fact that somewhere down the line she turned into a demi-human after a botched resurrection attempt. Soon afterwards, the Slane Theocracy became yet another willing vassal state to the Nazarick Empire.

After the Theocracy's subjugation most of the other nations of the world followed soon afterwards. Across the Sea from the Roble Kingdom Tri'ade's explorers found an entirely new continent named Tamriel virtually identical to the one found in the Elder Scrolls games. Immediately after finding it however the entire continent mysteriously teleported itself into the completely seperate sea near the Alliance of City states.

It was later found out the Daedric Lord Sheogorath and his cult was responsible. Why? Cheese. it was for cheese. In both instances of Tamriel's appearance in the New World cultists of Sheogorath traveled to the mainland to purchase large quantities of cheese. Once the last of the shipments of cheese arrived from the Roble Kingdom the continent was transported near the Alliance of City States. Once Sheogorath got his precious cheese Tamriel disappeared from the face of the New World for good.

Why the Daedric Lord went to such trouble as to transport an entire continent to another world for several months for cheese is unknown. Cultists asked on this subject said there simply was not enough cheese for everyone.

As for the floating city of the Greed Kings in which the Platinum Dragon Lord resided... Well, Tri'ade killed the dragon while he slept because dragons are lazy bastards. Almost as lazy as a certain notorious senile old pervert. Some vagrants living in the floating city, along with the dragon, told Tri'ade of a controverted prophecy about him and the world.

But it was later revealed that these vagrants pretending to be the old servants of the city were just drugged out of their mind. They were explorers and adventurers who spent all their savings getting to the floating city only to have the dragon block them from getting any of the fancy loot so they spent most of their money on the opium growing below the city.

Near the Theocracy was a mystery, the Lodos Forest. In an area of the forest where the Elven Nation did not exist there existed the Zone of Timelessness. Any who entered the place were frozen in time forever, nothing got done, nothing was changed, which resulted in some very smelly underwear. This disappointed a lot of people but apparently the one who had originally cast the spell that created the zone died, so people simply avoided the area for centuries.

It was suggested by Demiurge that Tri'ade could use large scale dispelling magic to undo the Zone of Timelessness, but Tri'ade didn't bother. What he did bother doing was conquering the Elven Kingdom, killing the asshole king and taking the King's oldest concubine as his seventh wife making her Queen of the Elven Kingdom in the process.

It didn't change her duties overly much as she was the one governing the Elven Kingdom thanks to the previous King's lack of interest in ruling his people. After all, if it weren't for her efforts the Elven Kingdom would probably have fallen long ago. Without any leadership at all they would have been so unorganized as to not even mount effective guerrilla resistance against the Theocracy. No Kingdom after all could withstand decades of genocidal war being led by no one in particular. To think so otherwise would be insane. Someone would inevitable rise to the challenge and the leader of the elven king's concubines was well positioned to do so.

Tri'ade's harem of wives and concubines grew exponentially as he continued to conquer the rest of the world. He had thousands of known children but gossip and rumors claimed that he had tens of thousands of illegitimate offspring.

These rumors were due in no small part thanks to two individuals, a doppelganger and an Incubus who both decided to take on Tri'ade's identity to more easily seduce the inhabitants of the New World. Attempts were made to capture and stop these two individuals but they would always elude capture by seducing the NPC's sent to arrest him.

A veritable army of emo half demons were born from these lustful encounters. One of which was a half demon daughter of Tri'ade's named Subject 1337. Named as such by her caretaker, Demiurge. Notable only in the fact that she managed upon meeting her father to rip asunder Tri'ade's soul, killing him instantly and permanently. Why? How? Because obviously this emo half demon daughter of his was an incredibly powerful psychic. One of whom Tri'ade mistakenly allowed Demiurge to experiment upon given the low status of her mother.

Thus, the Tyrant Albedo came into power as Regent-Mother of the Nazerick Empire. No longer constrained by her love's compassionate nature she acted rashly. She naturally hated Tri'ade's half demon offspring after her lover's death at the hands of Subject 1337. As such she implemented an unsuccessful purge of them including those children Tri'ade had with his other wives.

This instigated a century of civil wars which split various NPC's of Nazarick among those who favored different heirs of Tri'ade to succeed him as Guild Master. It was then that the Floating Fortress of the Guild Seraphim (Not to be confused with the Eight Greed King's Guild Hall which was a floating city. Completely separate things.) appeared in the world.

Seeing the ruined state of the world, Ainz Ooal Gown's old rivals Seraphim waged war on what remained of them. Led by the penguin butler Eclair, Ainz Ooal Gown fought on bitterly. Until, that is, the World Eater descended upon both groups picking off their members one by one with overwhelming might.

A World Enemy-class being the World Eater calling himself the Great Beloved was too much for either what little remained of Ainz Ooal Gown or Seraphim, so Eclair proposed a temporary alliance to defeat the new menace to the World. A joining of forces which Seraphim accepted.

In the great battle between the Great Beloved World Eater and two formerly mighty guilds from YGGDRASIL, the World Eater being the most OP character imaginable yet still played by a player managed to accidentally…. ACCIDENTALLY destroy the world using one of his OP moves in his attempts to destroy both guilds. Thus the New World came to an end, a casualty of OP characters duking it out and not having the wisdom to actually sit down and talk things out.

The End.

* * *

 ** _Afterword:_**

After many people sent me pms saying "Will you finish this story?" and "Will you continue this story?" I have decided to definitively answer these questions. Yes! As of this chapter there will be no further chapters of Volume Omega of the story, "Tri'ade, Twilight Lord of Nazarick."

If there were any missing plot threads that I have not addressed in this chapter it was intentional and they will never be addressed and will be left up to the reader's own imagination. This is not laziness on my part but in fact innovative writing. After all, doing less is more, as they say. Nothing in this chapter will be relevant to my future works.

Speaking of the future. While I may have missed my March 20th Deadline for this chapter I do have something planned for publishing in the near future. I do not want to say anything yet because this is not an announcement but a notification. There might be an announcement of a prequel for Volume Omega of Tri'ade, Twilight Lord of Nazarick.

Following these prequels there might even be a prequel for the prequels dealing with events in more detail in the Forest of Tobb and the revelation of new side characters including new NPC's and also including a new Waifu for you to drool over. Exciting right? But these are mere possibilities. Remember that this is not an announcement but a notification for a future announcement of possible future announcements of possible future stories.

*Note to all readers: Publish Date of Volume Omega is April 1st 2019. (April Fools)


	21. Volume 4: Re-Estize, Chapter 2: Six Arms

_**Volume 4: Re-estize, Chapter 2: Six Arms**_

 _ **City of Re-Estize-Ro Lente Castle**_

After the King left the room with the Warrior-Captain, both Tri'ade and the Princess discussed the attack against Eight Fingers. After they were done, Tri'ade had excused himself, telling Princess Renner and Climb he had to inform Darkness via [Message] to gather at the Palace with the other attack squads. Once Tri'ade casted a few spells to ensure no one eavesdropped on him, he informed Darkness of the rallying point.

He did this but while he had this chance away from the prying eyes of the Princess, Tri'ade contacted Demiurge. "Demiurge, can you give me an update on your mission?"

For a moment Tri'ade thought he could hear the devil's breath give way as if he was speaking in the middle of kneeling where he stood. "Yes my lord! I've been looking at some letters and other documents. This princess hides it well but these letters confirm what I've suspected"

Hesitating for a moment Tri'ade asked, "W-Where are you?"

"In the princesses royal chambers. She took off for a meeting with that bodyguard of hers. I took the liberty of investigating her room."

"Do you need more time? I'm the one she's been meeting with."

The sound of Demiurge's laughter rang in Tri'ade's ears. "Of course you were! I'm grateful for your assistance my lord. I should have known it was you that drew her away. But no, I'm done with these. I don't need any more time than what you have already graciously provided me with."

"Ah, good. Though there is something you should know Demiurge."

Tri'ade hesitated for a moment to say what he needed to say. Unsure how the astute devil would judge his choice to reveal Ainz Ooal Gown to the King. Demiurge asked with bated breath, "And that is?"

Trying to sound as professional as he could, Tri'ade stated the facts and nothing more "King Ramposa the Third recognizes the nation of Ainz Ooal Gown and it's claim over the Great Forest of Tob."

There was a long silence. The other arch-devil likely was attempting to process the ramifications of what Tri'ade had said to him. That after so long of stressing stealth and secrecy his master had just revealed the existence of Ainz Ooal Gown to a human monarch in a single night.

Breaking the silence Demiurge frantically spoke through the [Message] spell, "Brilliant! absolutely Brilliant my lord! Did you plan this since saving that human village? What am I saying? Of course you did!"

Tri'ade was relieved to hear that from Demiurge. If he was this excited about it there shouldn't be anything terribly wrong about what he did. "Glad to see you approve. I hope to tell you and Albedo more about it when I get back home."

Sounding pleased with what Demiurge said told his lord as much. "Really? Then I'm looking forward to that, my lord."

Pressing onto other matters Tri'ade tried to curb Demiurge's enthusiasm with more troublesome news. At least it was troublesome in Tri'ade's mind. "But there is a more pressing matter. The Princess is bold. She plans to attack Eight Fingers tonight."

That would only leave them a few hours at most to plan their own assault on Eight Fingers. Part of Tri'ade regretted not telling Demiurge immediately after finding out about it but he wanted to get more information from the Princess. Demiurge for his part didn't sound concerned at all. In fact he sounded amused by what Tri'ade told him.

"I thought so. These markings on this map I found must show their targets."

Demiurge has the map they were using to plan their assault?! Just to confirm Tri'ade asked "Eight Targets?"

"Yes, Lord. How did you know?"

Before he answered, Tri'ade looked around the room he was to check again that he was alone. "Darkness is taking part in the assault as the 8th team. We need to take over Eight Fingers tonight."

"Well done, my lord. With your leave I will assemble a team from Nazarick."

Thinking back on his promise to King Ramposa about protecting villages from monster attacks, Tri'ade immediately knew how this attack could bite him in the ass if it were ever connected back to him. "Only your subordinates. I leave you in charge of the operation. Remember that we are now a nation. We must be careful not to incriminate Ainz Ooal Gown in what we do tonight."

Hearing a wicked chuckling form Demiurge he replied to his master in a low tone "As you wish, my lord."

Somewhat disturbed by Demiurge's chuckling, Tri'ade cut off the [Message] and went back into the room with Princess Renner, Climb and Narberal inside.

"You were gone for awhile. Is everything alright?" The princess had the appearance of concern upon her face as she looked in Tri'ade direction with her big blue eyes.

Calmly Tri'ade explained himself as he walked back to his chair at the table. "Ah, no. Nothing like that. It just struck me I ought to tell Albedo what happened. I'm sorry if I inconvenienced you, your highness."

Princess Renner waved off Tri'ade's apology. "Please, there is no need to be so formal. It was no trouble. Though I must say I am curious about your steward Albedo but that will have to wait for another day." Standing up from her seat at the table Princess Renner moved to leave the room.

Their original guide and escort in the palace, Gazef Stronoff, left with the King so Princess Renner and Climb took his place. Tri'ade and Naberal followed the Princess to the door to her room where she wish both Tri'ade and Climb luck in their mission. Apparently the Princess was retiring for the night and had left Lakyus of Blue Rose in charge of actually leading the operation against Eight Fingers.

As Renner closed the door to them Tri'ade could only hope Demiurge was long gone and had enough time to hide what he did. As the Princess didn't make a noise about her room being ransacked Tri'ade had to assume Demiurge hid his tracks well. As Climb led them away into the courtyard, Tri'ade breathed a sigh of relief.

In the courtyard were several tents and a large assembly of armed men gathered all around. At one of the larger tents Tri'ade could see the golden locks of four armed women. There were two twins identical in nearly every way save for the ribbons in their hair. One had a blue ribbon, the other red. The woman these two stood side by side with had what looked to be a circlet with a blue rose attached on the side of it. The fourth woman stunned Tri'ade. She was a gigantic she-hulk of a woman clad in adamantite armor. For a moment Tri'ade had mistaken her for a man but her rather comically designed armor with its stylized breastplate revealed her true gender. It was obvious this was the adamantite group he had heard so much about, Blue Rose.

It was also clear to Tri'ade they weren't the only ones whose reputation preceded them. When Climb led them through the courtyard he could **feel** the eyes upon him. It was not an unfamiliar feeling given how his armor stood out among a crowd of people. Its quality wasn't something anyone in the New World had seen before in their lives. But this was different. Tri'ade could hear whispers of Fire Lord and Beautiful Princess, the nicknames people gave the both of them.

Climb introduced the both of them to Blue Rose. "Lady Lakyus." Motioning to the both of them Climb continued, "This is Tri'ade Nazarick and Narberal Gamma of Darkness. Princess Renner has accepted their help for tonight.

Upon hearing the name Lakyus, Tri'ade got a bit excited. She had interested him for awhile now. She was the wielder of a Sword of Darkness, a weapon likely wielded by a player within the Thirteen Heroes. Tri'ade had also learned from the Sunlight Scripture that Blue Rose had defeated them once in order to save an innocent beast-men village. That suggested a remarkable tolerance of non-humans. Tri'ade thought that given Ainz Ooal Gown was mostly non-humans, Lakyus could, if handled correctly, prove to be an asset.

Taking off his golden mask Tri'ade revealed his face still under the illusion of the [Veil] spell he used earlier. "It's a pleasure, Lady Lakyus. I've heard so much about you. The rest of Darkness will arrive shortly."

"Yes? I m-mean, likewise! It's good that you have come."

Lakyus blushed and Tri'ade noticed how pretty she was. Lakyus was more like how he imagined Princess Renner should have looked like when Lukrut kept gushing om about the beauty of the Golden Princess. While the Princess was cute, it was hard to call her a woman given her age. Beautiful in the way a porcelain doll was but Lakyus was definitely slightly older, more mature. You could say her flower was in bloom while Renner's hadn't yet.

"Eight Fingers will never know what hit them!" The large she-hulk of a woman hit her fist in the palm of her other hand. "With your team we can assault all eight targets at once."

"You can thank Gazef for telling me about this." Staring at the massive woman, Tri'ade was still in slight disbelief of the existence of this woman. _Is she a half ogre?_ "But who are you?"

Gagaran placed her hand over chest and said, "I'm Gagaran. The twins are Tia and Tina. Try and figure out which is which." The twins looked annoyed. They obviously did not appreciate their friend's joke. The twin wearing the blue ribbon called herself "Tia" and the other named herself "Tina" while pointing at themselves.

"Nice to meet you," Tri'ade said then he shifted his vision to look again at Lakyus. "Regarding tonight's attack, Darkness will need to be assigned to the warehouse. We got a job to rescue a prisoner held there for a client."

"A client? Well that shouldn't be a problem. We can reassign the Warrior-Captain to another target. I'm sure he won't mind."

Surprised Tri'ade had to ask "Gazef's also a part of this?"

Laykrus nodded. "His majesty can't put his full backing in this but he has lent the Royal Select to aid us."

Looking to Lakyus the mythril clad lad named Climb join the conversation. "Would it be possible to re-assign me to Darkness's group?"

"Huh?"

"I want to help! Their client is the man who saved my life. He's in trouble now. " Climb referred to the way Sebas saved his life after nearly getting killed by Six Arms's Succulent at the brothel. The young lad apparently had a great deal of respect for Sebas and was no doubt earnest in his request to help.

"That would be up to Tri'ade. It's his team." Lakyus gave Tri'ade a sidelong glance.

Bowing low to Tri'ade Climb begged him to take him along. "Please Tri'ade. I know Sebas has already hired you but I still want to help."

"Your help would not make a difference. In fact your needed more with the other targets. An entire admantite team being assigned to single location is already overkill." It felt cruel saying it but it was the truth. Plus, if Climb was at the warehouse it might cause certain unforeseeable complications. Safer to only have his people involved in it.

Climb stood up straight and looked sullen. He couldn't refute the facts even though he didn't like them. "I understand."

"We wouldn't mind some help at the other targets." Garganan suggested. Blue Rose had split itself up between multiple squads. Garganan and Tia being in the first while Lakyrus and Tina in another. It wasn't an unreasonable request but it wasn't one Tri'ade could accept. He wanted to see for himself how strong Darkness had became after being infused with the soul of the Great Demon Tree.

Tri'ade shook his head. "We expect what remains of Six Arms to be at the warehouse. It's obvious Six Arms wants revenge for Sebas killing Succulent. Kidnapping his employer is only a means to lure him into a trap. "

"That makes sense and it's good news if your right, things should be easier for the rest of us." Lakyus smiled.

"Only Oni leader can be happy about someone being kidnapped" Tina said presumably to herself but everyone else around heard her.

 _Oni? Isn't that some sort of demonic ogre?_ Tri'ade thought trying to recollect what he knew of folklore.

Lakyus wasn't pleased to be called Oni by her comrades. She gave what could only be described as death glare at Tina. It seemed this might have been an recurring issue between them or something.

"Scary." Tia said sympathizing with her twin's predicament.

Before things got out of hand they heard someone above them yell. "Yo!" Looking up Tri'ade saw it was a small child like figure flying in the sky. She wore flowing red robes and had a strange white mask which had a red gem affixed to it.

The mysterious figure flew down to Lakyus and spoke to her. "Sorry If I'm interrupting leader. But I got the potions you wanted."

 _Leader? I did hear they had a powerful caster with them called Evil-Eye. How old is she? She's as small as Shalltear and Aura are!_

Wanting to see if she really was a powerful caster, Tri'ade silently cast [Mana Essence] on this new arrival to see the size of her magical aura. He did this while she handed out the potions she acquired and named them to Lakyus. But he didn't see any mana emanating from this masked individual at all. This might not mean anything. This might not be Evileye at all. She could be a non-caster using a fly amulet to use flight magic to assist Blue Rose in running errands.

"So your the Fire Lord. Your armor is certainly is something else. Even if a bit worn out." The masked figure said to Tri'ade interrupting his thoughts. What she likely referred to was how his armor's robe which was part of his outfit was ripped and torn in places close to the ground. This wasn't due to damage but was a visual aesthetic of the armor itself.

"I could say the same about you. Miss?" Tri'ade asked the masked figure. Her robes were odd as well. While they were a solid red close to the ground they were tattered like his. What made them odd was two wraps of cloth that appeared to levitate above her shoulders and the fact Tri'ade could see metal chains. Connected to exactly what he did not know but there were no shackles on her hands.

"Evileye". She said all but confirming Tri'ade's suspicious about her identity

"I see. Nice to meet you." Tri'ade said out of courtesy but his mind was elsewhere. He was certain he heard that Evileye was a magic caster! But he saw no magic coming from her.

"You too" Evileye said returning the courtesy.

Climb bid his farewell to Blue Rose and Tri'ade as Gazef Stronoff entered the courtyard. Being the Warrior-Captain Gazef was leader of one of the eight squads. Behind Gazef appeared Darkness and Sebas. They appeared delayed since Climb looked to be talking to Sebas but Tri'ade from where he was couldn't make anything out.

"Captains gather round! We are going to go over the plan." The leader of blue rose said in a loud voice that carried throughout the courtyard. Gazef left Climb to talk with Sebas and the other squad captains who Tri'ade didn't recognize did as they were told. Tri'ade didn't need to move of course.

Not that he planned on listening to Lakyus. He had heard of the rough plan earlier from the princess and his team's job did not deviate from what they had already planned to do. Her words were more meant for the other squad captains who didn't know Darkness would be participating or were not informed of the plan yet.

As she talked Tri'ade thoughts lingered on Evileye. There were non-detection and aura masking spells of course but those had short duration so they were only used in combat. With the New World through one could never be certain of anything. It could be Evileye had some sort of rare talent or something that preventing him from using detection spells on her.

But It might be something as simple as using a magical item to hide her aura. Tri'ade himself hid his aura from magical detection using a Epic Ring of Non-Detection. The ring offered general protection against all high level divination magic. But it was a high level magical item. Not something Tri'ade would think a native of the New World to have in their possession not even an adamantite adventurer.

Now that he could guess what was blocking his detection spell on her he had to begin wondering. Why? Going over what he knew and found out he began to list it in his head.

 _She's the size of a child, a powerful magic caster, hides her face using a mask, and even goes as far as to mask her aura. Evileye is likely an alias._

 _I can't imagine anyone naming her child Evileye. If she was some sort of young magical prodigy I doubt she would go to such lengths to hide her identity. Her size alone gives away her age so she's not hiding that. So… why go to such lengths?_

Looking at his Epic Ring of Non-Detection on his hand Tri'ade realized something. He hid his aura and used a mask just like Evileye. If he was more serious in hiding his identity he would have used an alias. The reason he hid himself was because he was an inhuman monster and a player.

Without the ring he found members of Darkness would recoil from his passive aura. Not to mention the trouble it would cause if ,in this world where anything above six tier magic was considered god magic, it was revealed Tri'ade could cast Super-Tier magic. People would freak out.

Evileye wasn't human. Or If she was she certainly wasn't a native of this world. Was she a player? Or a monster with a item that allows her to hide her inhuman nature among humans? Both?

The item itself probably was from YGGDRASIL. Ring and Amulets which granted protections against detection were high level equipment after all. They were difficult to acquire even in YGGDRASIL so they should be even rarer items in this New World. It wouldn't make much sense to go through such effort to acquire one to hide one's aura unless she was abnormally powerful or of an inhuman race like Tri'ade was.

Doubt rang in his mind. However unlikely it might be possible Evileye didn't know the true nature of the item providing her with protection against his detection magic. She might have inherited it or was given it by someone else. It had been at least six hundred years since players started to emerge in this world after all. Lot could have happen to the items transported to the New World from YGGDRASIL. They could have exchanged hands between dozens of owners.

Tri'ade looked to Evileye who was now standing beside her comrades. Was Evileye looking back as well? It was impossible to tell with her mask on. As an adventurer Tri'ade was well known for using fire based spells. It was always possible just like Tri'ade did with Evileye she cast detection magic on him as well. It was impossible to tell If the same thoughts that Tri'ade tangled with did not reside in her head in this very moment.

When Lakyus was done speaking the other squad captains dispersed leaving to join the rest of their squads. The new mystery that was Evileye would have to solved another day. It was pointless thinking about it further and Tri'ade knew he had to be careful around her in case she was another player.

Walking over to where Darkness and Sebas were situated in the courtyard. Sebas bowed slightly. 'Sir Tri'ade."

"Sebas." Tri'ade quickly replied as he didn't want to drag this greeting out. Even if he called him Sir rather than Lord Sebas was being a bit too respectful towards him in public by bowing.

"Was that Blue Rose?" Peter asked as he tried to get a better look at the group of female adventurers. Tri'ade had informed him via message that Blue Rose was heading up this operation.

"Yes. The one flanked by those twins is their leader Lakyus."

"Whoa she's a beauty! As expected of a noble lady. Those twins aren't bad either." Lukrut said as he lecherously sized them up. While Lukrut may have given up the chasing Narberal it didn't mean he had given up on women. Naberal ignored him. If Lukrut wasn't pestering her it seemed she didn't care in the least what he did to other women.

"Please stop. What if the Golden Princess heard you?" Ninya jabbed Lukrut in the side with her staff.

Rubbing his hurt side Lukrut looked around. "Is she even here?"

"She retired to her room for the night."

"Of course she needs her beauty sleep." Lukrut began looking up into the windows of the castle thinking of the Princess.

"Do we have time to see them?" Dyne asked. This piqued Tri'ade's curiosity and when he didn't immediately answer Dyne explained. "I want to see her Sword of Darkness"

"Right! Mr Beleare did say Blue Rose had one of the swords!" Peter grew excited when Dyne mentioned the Sword of Darkness. Considering it was their dream of acquiring the Swords of Darkness, the opportunity to see one of the swords in prison was incredible for them.

"Oh could we meet her? If it isn't too much trouble that is." Ninya asked carefully. She didn't wish to sound ungrateful after having her sister saved from Eight Fingers.

"Yea but let's keep it quick." Tri'ade relented to their enthusiasm. But it wasn't just them that wanted to see the blade. Tri'ade did for his own reasons. He wanted to inspect it to figure out if the Black Knight was a cursed knight or not. If the blades held the cursed knight abilities they were reputed to be capable of.

Motioning over to them Tri'ade had the group to follow him. As they neared Blue Rose he waved over to them to get their attention.

"Hey! Can you spare a second?"

"What is it?" Lakyus asked with surprised and concern over her face. She thought something might be wrong.

"It's nothing much. Just the other members of my team wanted to meet you too." Tri'ade pointed his hand towards the rest of Darkness.

"Really? Well we can spare a moment." Lakyus looked relieved, her previous worries disappear. As an famous adamantite adventurer she was used to meeting people like this.

Blue Rose introduced themselves to the rest of Darkness and Peter and his friends did so as well. Lukrut though was especially enthusiastic in meeting the twins Tia and Tina. "Whoa! Am I seeing double? Ladies. Lukrut is the name. If you wish I'll ensure you'll remember it."

Responding to Lukrut's advances Tina said only one thing. "Perv"

"You guys sure are well equipped. Didn't you guys just reach adamantite rank?" Gargargan said looking over Peter and Lukrut's adamantite armor. Peter was wearing full plate while Lukrut's had chain-mail on. While Dyne wore leather armor it was wyvern leather and not immediately familiar to Blue Rose.. All their equipment were magical items too.

Most of Blue Rose wore mythril armor, custom made mythril armor to be sure but mythril all the same. Gagaran's Gaze Bane was the sole exception being made from Adamantite. These of course were enchanted so the main difference in their eyes was the material their armors were made from.

Peter looked to Tri'ade. He did not know how to answer the question. He knew Tri'ade had his secrets and wanted to keep them. Though he didn't know Tri'ade had recently revealed the existence of Ainz Ooal Gown to the royal family of Re-Estize.

"I gave it to them." Darkness was surprised at this simple answer and it drew curious glances from Blue Rose as well. It was only a matter of time now the wider world would know of Ainz Ooal Gown so Tri'ade didn't need to hide the fact he gave an amory's worth of magical items to Darkness.

Evileye's head seemed to move about as if scanning Darkness but she nearly jumped back as she looked at Sebas. Pointing at him she said "Is he another one of yours too?"

"Huh? That's just Sebas our employer." Tri'ade looked back at Sebas confused at Evileye's sudden shift in behavior. Gagaran put her hand on Evileye's head" You gotta forgive short stuff here. She can be a bit odd at times." Evileye stood still and silent.

"So your the one who saved Climb. Thank you! " Lakyus didn't want to think what would have happened to her friend the Princess if Climb got himself killed for her sake.

"You give me too much credit. The young man is quiet strong. He was still standing when I found him with Succulent."

"Is that so? I'm sure Climb would disagree."

"Too humble." Tia muttered to herself.

"Is it true you have one of the Swords of Darkness?" Peter asked the excitement in his voice clear even beneath his adamantite helmet.

"Huh?" Lakyus was taken back by Peter's question as she wasn't expecting it.

"Peter's a fan of the Black Knight." Tri'ade explained.

"He's not the only one!"

"Can we see it? Ninya instinctively drew closer to Lakyus.

The leader of blue rose raised her hands up. "Alright Alright. Calm down. I'd be happy to." While Lakyus was used to people wanting to see Kilineiram she wasn't so used to people being so forward about it as Peter and his friends were. Normally they'd be more coy about it respecting her adamantite rank and noble status.

Kilineiram was a sword of legend, an actual relic coming straight out of the saga of the Thirteen Heroes itself. People that aspired to be adventurers often grew up hearing the saga often dreaming of becoming a hero too. Before they realize the reality of being a monster slaying mercenary that is. When children role-played the heroes in their games the Black Knight was often children's favorite with the sole exception being the leader of the band of heroes.

She drew it out of its sheath and held Kilineiram the Demonic Blade aloft for everyone to see. It was the size of a bastard sword (a one and half sword) and its blade was as black as the night sky itself. It possessed a beautiful grip inlaid with a black sapphire on the pommel of the weapon.

Peter and his friends awed at the blade finally seeing the blade they had heard so much of since they were young children.

"Whoa."

"Amazing."

"It's just like I imagined."

Naberal wasn't that impressed with it and remained stoically silent. But Tri'ade was curious. He wanted to cast appraisal magic upon it to get a better idea of who the Black Knight was.

"Could I hold it?"

"Yes- I mean no! Sorry but you can't." Lakyus blushed red. It was a rejection Tri'ade found strange. He didn't really understand it but he didn't want to press the issue. There were other ways to get what he wanted after all.

"We really should continue our preparations for tonight." Evileye chimed in trying to hurry things along.

"The midget's right. We can talk more at the tavern after tonight. I wanna hear about how you guys captured an Elder Lich. That's wild." Gagaran laughed merrily.

"I'd love to. If that's alright with you?" Tri'ade tried putting on the charm ever so slightly. At least by what he a previously thirty year old neet could muster. At his point It was obvious that she was attracted to him even to Tri'ade. He might be able to use that to get a hold of Kilineiram and know more about Evileye.

"What?" Was Lakyus's reaction to Tri'ade using the word love. "Oh! Yes, Yes it's alright with me. We'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you then. Let's move out Darkness. Six Arms wont defeat itself."

* * *

 _ **City of Re-Estize-Warehouse District**_

Darkness and the rest of the attack squad reached the address that was in ransom letter. The address stood apart from everything else in the warehouse district. It had a fifteen foot high stone wall surrounding the place with a large steel gateway. One could see trees and other foliage within the property. Whoever owned the property was wealthy and valued their privacy.

The rest of the squad that followed darkness were parts of Gazef's Warrior Band who were assigned to their group to help capture the Eight Fingers hideout. These warriors with them were a liability. In terms of combat power and keeping what happens in the hideout confidential to Ainz Ooal Gown. They had to be dealt with before the assault began.

Turning to face them Tri'ade addressed them."Now here's the plan. As my team attacks this place, you warriors will form a perimeter. Any exit you find you will secure it. Those trying to flee will have to contend with his majesty's finest! Understood?"

The band of warriors stood at attention and many of them responded. "Sir yes Sir!" _Soldiers are about the same anywhere you go it seems._ Tri'ade thought that but he failed to realize how high his persuasion was given his high charisma. Even without mind control magic he could probably convince most people to do anything if he tried. Tri'ade turned to who he was told was the senior officer of the band. "Good. I leave you to it."

Tri'ade and Darkness went to the gateway into the hideout. What looked to be a guard spotted their approach. "What? Bastard!" The thug hightailed back deeper into the compound. Feeling subtly was lost Tri'ade cast what was becoming one of his favorite spells [Twin Telekinesis].

With the magic he gripped both parts of the gate and tore it off its hinges. Both sections of the gate hung in the air before he fling-ed them at the cowardly thug. The first one he missed slamming in behind the thug as he ran for his life. The second gate section hit With a loud crash of metal it slammed right on top of him. Before he perished the thug issued out a blood curdling scream as his body was flattened between the metal bars of the gate. Blood and entrails splattering across the ground from the violent impact.

Lukrut wore a grim smile as he drew his elven style composite longbow "Hey boss. Save some for us why don't ya? I'm itching to try something."

"Don't worry. You'll have Six Arms all to yourselves." Tri'ade said coolly as he turned to look to the ranger and the rest of Darkness.

"Ha! That mouth of yours will be the death of us." Dyne teased Lukrut for his over eagerness. The druid grabbed his heavy mace and his light shield from his back as he readied himself.

Peter already having his helmet on and his weapon out the warrior was ready for combat since they set out from the palace. With his admantite full plate and shield he looked like the very image of a dark knight. Ninya in her blue wizard robes and hat followed in behind him.

Darkness walked over the fallen thug along the garden path into the complex following behind Tri'ade. They eventually came into a large training area. Two other buildings laid adjacent to it in this Eight Fingers compound. Standing torches were arranged around the area to provide illumination.

Around three dozen armed thugs like the one Tri'ade had just killed surrounded the buildings. Four people though stood out from the rest. They stood in front of the main entrance to the main building away from the common thugs.

There was one with dark skin with an outfit that reminded Tri'ade of a belly dancer. A zombie like individual with a rotten face wearing blood red robes and beside him was a man covered head to toe in dark full plate. Lastly there was a man whose look screamed swashbuckler in the most stereotypical fashion. The man's outfit looked like how Tri'ade would imagine a bullfighter would wear and he had a rapier slung around his waist. These were four members of Six Arms no doubt about it.

Dark skin caught his eye. It was the first time he saw a human with dark skin in this world. This along with her getup suggested she was a foreigner to Re-Estize. Her outfit wasn't one Tri'ade expected one of the notorious Six Arms to wear the others were fairly typical. Was her outfit magical?

That thought had to wait. He could feel the barely contained hostility the dozens upon dozens of thugs encircling them as Darkness drew closer to Six Arms. It didn't concern Tri'ade. They weren't a threat. But they didn't know that.

"We've been expecting you","He's brought friends." This'll be fun" Said some random thugs in the crowd but they didn't move to attack.

"Aren't there…. Supposed to be five of you?" Sebas questioned the remaining members of Six Arms in front of them.

"You were told to come alone. The girl will suffer for that you know?" The elder lich cracked smile on the half of his face that remained.

"Don't be mad. I saved you the trouble of finding me."

"And you are?"

"Sebas's master" Tri'ade said as he crossed his arms.

"I hear that old man is strong, for a butler. To think he killed Succulent." The dark skinned beauty mused out loud so that her compatriots could hear her.

The swashbuckler had his hand resting on top of the hilt of his rapier. "I don't care if he is a has-been, having one of Six Arms defeated like that in front of a client, is embarrassing beyond words. " The swashbuckler adopted indigent tone to his voice as if it wounded his own pride to have had his comrade killed in such a way.

"Maybe he had more help than we were lead to believe?" The dark knight dryly implied Tri'ade and the others of assisting Sebas to defeat their comrade.

"Either way, that old man is the one who started all of this trouble. Give him to us and maybe we'll let the girl go." The undead mage stressed the word "maybe". He had no real intention of letting anyone go at this point. The man was clearly toying with them thinking they had the upper hand.

Tri'ade responded in a mocking tone. "So generous of you. But I have other plans."

"Brave but foolish. Look up there." Glancing upward the undead mage drew Tri'ade's attention to the second floor of the main building. It had a large balcony lit up by lights and people in fancy attire were sitting down at tables overlooking everything.

"We going to break you and then murder you and your friends. If we don't we'll be in a tight spot."

"There are bigwigs from all over sitting up there. They're here to watch us torture the old man Because of you they'll have see a brawl instead like a bunch of Imperials."

"Interesting. Where is your fifth member? Zero I think his name was." Looking to the undead mage as he spoke Tri'ade addressed him as the lead member of the group

"What If I said he was enjoying your woman right now?" A wicked grin came across the undead's half rotten face as he said it. Naberal stepped forward in anger at the thought of these bugs toying with Solution but Tri'ade held her back.

"He's a dead man. As is everyone here." Tri'ade looked over to the assembled group of thugs. "Your all dead men. You just don't know yet. "

"Listen to you, human!"

"I'm sure he must have not met anyone truly strong before." The surrounding thugs laughed as the woman said that. They still thought they had an overwhelming advantage. Tri'ade was amused by that. He wondered what kind of look they would give him as they realized how fucked they were.

Drawing his rapier the swashbuckler challenged Tri'ade. "Well okay, We'll take you on."

"You won't be fighting me." Tri'ade held his hand up to stop the swashbuckler in his tracks. "That wouldn't be fun. So the four of you will face four of us." Motioning back to Peter and his friends Tri'ade indicated who he wanted to be fighting against Six Arms.

"Maybe just maybe if you kill them then I'll step in to settle things with you. But as my wife would say you gotta earn that privilege."

"Oh you are one cocky bastard. You must not know who you are facing!"

"Neither do you."

"Malmvist, of the Thousand Kills." The swashbuckler began the introductions with an ever confident look on his face. He brought his rapier to his face in a fencing salute.

The dark skinned girl twirled around the jingling sound of her bangles resounded in the air. Tossing up one scimitar then another there appeared to be a cycling whirlwind of scimitars in the air orbiting all around her. "Edstrom, of the Dancing Scimitar."

Whipping out his weapon the dark knight swung it around him. He wielded what appeared to be a long metallic whip. "Peshurian, of the Spatial Slash."

"And me, Davernoch, the Undead King." Opening his free palm a ball of fire emerged.

 _Undead King. What a ridiculous title for an petty thug. Besides the girl their all ridiculous._

Tri'ade did a bow with his hand across his chest in mockery to Davernoch. "Oh your majesty. Pardon my manners for not introducing myself sooner." Sebas and Narberal stood wide eyed at this shocked at the Supreme Being bowing to anyone but Tri'ade continuing his own introduction getting into the act.

Seeing these petty thugs flex about like some cartoon villains made him want to do the same. Tri'ade raised his hands in the air as he proudly proclaimed for all to hear. " I am Tri'ade, of the Four Million Kills, the Lord of Nazarick, Master of Divine and Arcane Magic, the Last of the Supreme Beings, and the Future Ruler of the Entire World!" Lowering his hands to his sides he continued. "Though you might know me as the Fire Lord."

The assembled crowd of thugs and those up on the balcony seeing everything began to laugh. Even though everything Tri'ade had said was true they didn't know it. They were ignorant of that. So they laughed at how absurd what he had said was. Sebas, and those with him didn't laugh of course. They knew the truth.

[Firestorm]

Laughter turned into screams of searing pain. As Tri'ade cast the spell sheets of roaring fire engulfed the area where the three dozen thugs of Eight Fingers stood burning each man or woman alive in magical fire. The only laughter that could be still heard as the thugs burned was Tri'ade's.

[Protection Energy - Fire]

The so called Undead King used a spell in the hope to protect himself from the flames. This despite clearly not being the spell's intended target. As an Undead he was vulnerable to fire and always had this spell ready to be used at a moment's notice. Davernoch took a step back from the horrific scene unfolding before him.

The firestorm stopped spreading at the entrance of the main building. The people above on the balcony could only see a wall of fire as people burned alive below them. These rich and privileged people gasped in terror as those below them burned, they feared the flames would spread to them as well. They could feel the ferocity of the flames from where they sat at their tables.

But the fire did not spread to burn down the building, it did not even burn a single blade of grass besides the places where those who burned once stood. Having learned from the fight with the Demon Tree Tri'ade tamed the magical flames to burn only that which he wished it to burn. He could do this with the Firestorm spell since it allowed the caster to select who to target within the spell's area of effect.

So as quickly as it came the flames dissipated leaving only ash of its victims and the stunned faces of Six Arms in its aftermath. Tri'ade took a sort of glee watching their previously smug expressions turn into panic.

Davernoch struggled to comprehend the level of magical might necessary to call forth such powerful flames with such precision. The confidence in Malmvist's face was gone as he realized they had lost any semblance of an numerical advantage against those he faced.

"W-what was THAT?!" Edestron asked her comrades with her voice aquiver. She stumbled as she looked behind her to see what remained of the thugs that were there moments before.

"I don't know! Nothing but flesh burned!"

"You cannot be Lord of anything if you lack control." Motioning over to the people assembling now on the rails of the balcony, all in order to get a better look at is going on. " Now I believe you promised these people a show? I think I'll watch alongside them."

[Fly]

Floating above Six Arms and everyone else he hovered for a bit before looking over to Darkness and Sebas.

"Come along Naberal. Oh and Sebas?"

"Yes my Lord?"

"Go get Solution and find Zero. It'd be a unfortunate if he managed to escape our trap." Sebas bowed to his master and moved to one of the nearby buildings.

At the mention of a trap by Tri'ade Edstrom began looking around her and using her talents for heightened awareness to try to spot any means of escape. Whatever this magic caster had planned she wanted no part in it. She spotted movement in the shadows, and whatever it was drawing close to her flank. Growing scared she attacked the movement in the shadows with her flying scimitars.

Whatever it is she targeted evaded the attack but in doing so came closer to the light of the torches. Even in its radiance it the shadow remained. It looked like a living silhouette of an emancipated child. The shadow quickly drove back into the darkness from whence it came. Edstrom didn't know what it was but Tri'ade looked at her with interest.

"What was that thing?"

"One of my little friends."

He didn't care to elaborate. It was best left unsaid. Tri'ade didn't plan on anyone here escaping but it was better they knew as little as possible regarding the Shadow Demons. He had these demons watching over those here and ordered them to assassinate any human that tried to flee. Shadow Demons on top with being very stealthy had a number of levels in classes granting them the ability to sneak attack anything that wasn't aware of their presence. The less Edstrom knew the better.

It surprised Tri'ade that Edstrom managed to detect the Shadow Demon at all. But It was clear given her lack of action that she lost track of it once it returned to the shadows. Otherwise she would have followed through on her initial attack.

Flying over to the balcony those assembled there drew away as Tri'ade and Naberal landed among them. None of them were fighters or even armed so their caution to stay their distance from the two magic casters was entirely justified. Even if they did not comprehend what exactly had happened they feared what might happen. And those myriad of possibilities began to spring forth in the minds of these quote bigwigs of Eight Fingers.

Turning to address Six Arms and Darkness from the balcony Tri'ade spoke loudly as to project his voice clearly. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Tonight we will witness a fight between Four Arms and those of the adventurer party Darkness! Any outside interference in the fight will be eliminated. Any who try to escape will be killed."

"You can't threaten us. Do you know who I am?! You arrogant-"

[Finger of Death]

Tri'ade pointed with his index finger at the corrupt noble and upon casting the spell he knelled over in pain screaming as their flesh began to violently rot away. The noble clawed at his clothes clutching himself as moaned and groaned as the process transformed him into a mindless husk of a zombie. Tri'ade could feel the mental connection between him and the undead a sign it was now under his command.

"Anyone attempting to resist will of course be executed. Your only hope of survival is compliance with my desire." Tri'ade placed his hand over his chest as he uttered the words "my desire" to stress his point.

Unbeknownst to Tri'ade the man who just turned into a groaning zombie was Count Leon. A member of the noble faction and a noble that had profitable dealings with Eight Fingers for decades. The count was the noble of highest rank among these noble backers of Eight Fingers.

An immensely greedy individual he was feared by everyone else here for his hot temper and his tendency to hire thugs to kill those he disliked. And Tri'ade not only killed him but painfully turning the once feared noble into an undead abomination right before their eyes.

Some of the women fell to their knees and clapped their hands over their mouths. Others hung tightly to whichever man they were with while their male partners shook with fear. None dared even make a sound let alone speak a single word for fear of offending this man. These gentile men and women were accustomed to having their rank and privilege ignored in such a brutal fashion. They knew If the count was subject to summary execution they all were.

"Sit down at your tables." These corrupt nobles did not offer any further resistance and nervously moved to their seats.

Zombie Leon shambled over to where Tri'ade stood on the railing of the balcony. It having no other commands to follow the zombie was drawn to its master's side. From there Six Arms could see the rotting figure of the once feared noble for themselves.

Both Edstrom and Malmvist grew pale as they saw the count's condition. They knew even if they got out of this mess with their lives they wouldn't want to see Zero again. Zero would be furious at them failing to protect the Count and the rest of the nobility watching. Regardless of any excuses they would use, Zero would make them pay dearly for it.

Davernoch on the other hand began to maniacally laugh. Even since he awoke as an undead lich he had wanted one thing. To learn new magic. It was the reason why he accepted Zero's offer to join Six Arms. The man had promised him to provide him with magical tutors. Now in a single day he had the great fortune to see the results of two magnificent spells. The undead wished he could have been able to personally witness the Count's transformation into an zombie. Truly this man was a master of magic.

"Amazing! Truly amazing. You are no human. You cannot be."

"Fool. Master has already told you. He is a Supreme Being." Snapped Naberal, the very suggestion that Tri'ade was a human was reprehensible to her.

For Peter, Ninya, Lukrut and Dyne the zombie was a reminder of the day they joined Tri'ade. Of the undead uprising in E-Rantel. They knew their lord had undead servants and what that meant. Tri'ade even had one of his Elder Liches practice with them in preparation for their big job. The one involving capturing an lich in the Katze Plains for the Imperial Arena.

Peter and his friends had grown comfortable with the fact Tri'ade was a necromancer. Anyone after all can choose to believe anything if they wish to believe. Justification and excuses came easy to them as to why the Necromancer Khajhit was evil and Tri'ade was not. He saved them and many other people. Tri'ade believed in them and so they in turn believed in him. Tri'ade trusted them to keep his secret so they would. Tri'ade did not force them into servitude with their debt to him they choose it.

After all he promised they could refuse any order of his if they wanted to. Peter and the others simply did not want to refuse their savior, their benefactor, the person they believed in. And now that person asked them to fight four members of Six Arms the most notorious criminals in the entire Re-Estize Kingdom. Theoretically given Tri'ade's promise to them they could refuse to fight if they wished to. Tri'ade would likely kill them immediately afterwards with his great magic.

But they didn't want to. They were eager to fight. To test themselves against these new opponents. Peter and his friends felt powerful, they felt far different from the adventurers they used to be after being endowed with the soul fragment of the Great Demon Tree.

"Are there any questions about the rules before we begin the fight?" Tri'ade asked in a nonchalant manner almost mocking the tension that hung in the air among those present.

"Just one If you would permit it Supreme Master of Magic." Davernoch tried to appeal to his pride by giving him that title. The undead knew given the fire magic he saw earlier that he would likely stand little chance of surviving if things got serious. But to Tri'ade such flattery seems shallow and insincere coming from someone not from the Great Tomb.

"I did ask"

"If we win, what then?"

"Heh." Tri'ade was amused by the lich's confidence in his chances. "Those you killed will be brought back to life. After that? I could offer you a chance to serve me."

Six Arms took heart after hearing Tri'ade say that. There was slimmer of hope now. Zero might not forgive them for not protecting Count Leon and the other nobles but that wouldn't matter. Davernoch hoped for more than survival though. He hoped that somehow he could ingratiate himself to learn more about the magic he just witnessed. Six Arms were confident in their individual strength, do or die tests of strength to impress their superiors was nothing new to them.

For his part Tri'ade didn't plan on having any of them leave here alive. He did say they were dead men after all. The sole exception might be Edstrom she might have valuable as she was a foreigner to the Kingdom. "No more questions?" Tri'ade paused for a moment looking over Six Arms and Darkness. "Fight!"

[Fireball]

As his opening move Davernoch produced a fireball from his palm and hurled it at Darkness. But Ninya countered it.

[Mass Protection Energy Fire!]

Five scimitars flew in the air in a wheel pattern at Lukrut. Nimble as he was he dodged the scimitars as they cut the ground like a saw wheel before flying around in formation for another pass at him.

Grabbing three arrows out of his quiver Lukrut held all three between his fingers as he rapidly fired them off at Edstrom. One missed as she ran and danced around the battlefield, his second shot was expertly deflected by Edstrom with her sixth scimitar in her hand. The third hit her sword arm where it pierced the silk and its shaft broke. The tail end of the arrow fell to the ground while the arrowhead remained in Edstrom.

"Hey don't ruin her clothes! I want them" Tri'ade blurted out as he saw the silk being ripped by Lukrut's arrows. While Edstrom wasn't bad looking most of her appeal in Tri'ade's mind was thanks to her apparel than her body. Her exotic looks. Tri'ade imagined what Naberal or Albedo could do for him while wearing those revealing silk garments. He could probably convince Albedo to try to learn erotic dancing. Maybe those succubi he summoned knew how and they seemed eager to teach the NPC's all sorts of things.

"My bad." Lukrut smiled as he guessed what Tri'ade was thinking. While he may have given up pursuing Narberal he could always appreciate her beauty. His mental image of Naberal wearing Edstorm's attire motivated him even more to aim for her exposed midriff with his next three arrows. They were deflected by a wall of whirling scimitars.

Charging ahead Peter raised his adamantite shield in front of him as he rushed forwards. Drawing his Urumi Peshurian attacked.

[Dimensional Slash!]

His weapon whipped forward issuing a loud cracks as he attacked. Metallic lashes impacted on Peter's adamantite shield. Peshurian's Urumi sometimes curled around Peter's shield but it hit only hard adamantite full plate.

[Greater Ability Boost] [Multi-Thrust]

Peter's speed grew and when he got right in front of Peshurian he attacked him with six rapid thrusts with his magical long-sword Ramanus. Unable to get away the blade's tip punctured the armored foe before him and dark red energy flowed into the blade and up Peter's hand upon the hilt.

Ramanus was a special magical item. Tri'ade even used it himself long ago when he was at lower levels. Not that he told Peter or Narberal this least they treat it as some sort of holy relic rather than the low level item that it was. It held a life stealing enchantment on the dark blade and dealt increased damage to living creatures. That said it's enchantments were only useful at lower levels. That was because it was an artifact-class item tied to a quest you couldn't modify or upgrade it with data crystals.

Lore wise Ramanus was a special drop item in the lair of the lich Belnazar. It was a level thirty dungeon filled with traps and undead minions. Ironically enough though the lich didn't hide his dungeon regarding the lore but invited people to navigate its myriad of dangers baiting people into his home for the chance for gold and magical items. The town of Nezzle-Hielm took advantage of this offering rooms, and shops and the local churches were even taking advantage of the opportunity.

Supposedly Belnazar did this to gain test subjects for his variety of experiments and for his own amusement but it was just the developers way of putting a dungeon in the area supported by the nearby town. It was a beginner dungeon meant to be tackled by a party rather than it being capable of being completed solo in previous levels.

In one of the rooms of the lich's lair was a "Hall of Fallen Heroes". Filled with thrones sitting upon them corpses of would be dungeoneers the lich were impressed with or amused him enough for special consideration. Upon most were their former equipment and was yet another trap laid by Belnazar. Should someone take something off the dead in the room or disturb them in anyway the corpses would rise and fight the party.

One of these fallen heroes the Lich was amused by was Ramanus. A paladin of Tyr god of Justice and War. unlike other he had gone to the lair of the Lich not for gold or magical treasures as most did but to defeat the Lich Belnazar himself to end the bloody game he was playing with the living once and for all.

Obviously he failed but those who succeeded in killing his undead self in the room of Fallen Heroes had a 1% drop chance of getting the Longsword of Ramanus. Apparently as part of the Lich Belnazar's experiments in souls he trapped the paladin's soul within the blade and used it to power the enchantments upon it.

The paladin of course being reduced to being an inanimate object had no choice in how he was used. This coupled with the fact his only stimulus in his un-life is feeding on the life energy of those he harms, has had the effect of driving the former paladin into madness. Evident by the scripted dialog the blade has when its being used. At least that's how it was in YGGDRASIL.

" _Ah human blood! How I miss it so!"_ Ramanus told Peter telepathically as the sword delighted in feeding upon Peshurian's health. Ramanus had been used against undead previously in the Katze Plains, a type of monster the sword couldn't drink life-force from, so the spirit of the sword was glad to be drinking the blood of the living again Peter ignored the sword's yammering and continued to focus on his opponent in front of him.

Pershuian jumped back increasing the distance between them while clutching his side with his free hand trying to stop the blood. He was unaccustomed to seeing his own blood given the potency of his magical equipment he got from Zero. Those he fought in the past had little in the way to defend against his unconventional weapon.

Malmvist of the Thousand kills thrust his rapier Rose Thorn forward toward Dyne closing the distance with a martial art skills of his own.

[Lighting Thrust!]

Leaping forward he moved with lighting speed as he thrust Rose Thorn directly at Dyne's chest hoping to take out the healer of the group quickly so he could gang up on other members of Darkness with his comrades.

Expecting this Dyne had his light shield ready to parry the blow. While it was just a was a light shield it was made from celestial oak and enchanted with passive buffs. With it he'd acted as a front-line fighter with Peter in their previous fights.

[Fortress!]

Surprised at Dyne's use of martial arts Malmvist countered with another of his own.

[Rapid Riposte!]

In an instant he regained control of Rose Thorn and thrust it's tip in Dyne's right kneecap. The wyvern leather softened the blow but it was there Rose Thorn's dual enchantments went to work.

It was an insidious weapon suited for Malmvist of the Thousand Kills. As he was more suited for assassination work than a fair fight. It came with two enchantments. Grinding Flesh, the moment the rapier came into contact with skin, it would tear the flesh around it apart. If the sword pierced the skin, it would leave an even more massive wound with the flesh torn about.

And Master Assassin. It was an enchantment that would turn even a minor scratch into a serious wound.

Combined with the poison Malmvist coated on his blade ensured no matter how well equipped Dyne was he couldn't afford to suffer a single blow from his opponent. The scratch that resulted in Rose Thorn managing to pierce wyvern leather blossomed into large wound crippling Dyne's right leg. He had to shift his weight to his good leg even as the posien began to spread throughout his body.

[Gust of Wind!]

A tunnel of fierce wind began to blow pushing Malmvist back fifteen feet away from Dyne and extinguishing nearby torches. [Gust of Wind] was a tier two druid spell. Mostly defensive in nature it created a continuous tunnel of wind for up to one minute that pushed enemies away and slowed the movement of people moving towards the caster. It bought Dyne some time to recover from the crippling pain in his right knee.

Meanwhile Tri'ade watched the fight. Deciding to get comfortable and sat down at a nearby table with full view of the open field below. Narberal delighted in acting as a maid and fetched a serving tray. She poured Tri'ade a drink testing it for poisons ever diligent in her duties to protect her lord.

Next to him ,sitting absolutely terrified, was a noble woman in her mid twenties. She had long flowing blonde hair and blue eyes just like so many in Re-Estize. Though unlike most she could afford heavy makeup and endured wearing a corset with her expensive gown to draw attention to her breasts. A woman that clearly in her spent an inordinate amount of time on her appearance.

This was Countess Diana De Francia Leon, the wife or to be more accurate the current widow of Count Leon. The very man Tri'ade had so recently horrifically transformed into one of the living dead in front of her. She couldn't take her eyes off Tri'ade because if she did they would wander to her now undead husband standing beside him. This drew Tri'ade's attention as he sipped his tea.

"You look tense. Have some tea. It calms the nerves." Tri'ade looked over to Narberal who got the message to pour some tea for the woman.

"Thank you... Lord." Calling this brutal cutthroat a Lord disgusted the countess. But she feared making him angry as her husband did.

The fighting continued down below. Davernoch knew he couldn't continue using his fireball spell anymore. Not because of risk of hitting his comrades the so called Undead King didnt care about harming the living. Not even if they were the lives of his comrades. It was because it would be useless with Ninya's magic protecting her from fire damage.

[Lightning!]

The orb in his right hand glowed bright blue and lighting shot through his left hand fingertip straight at Ninya. The bolt of lighting penetrated right through her hitting her square in the chest. Sparks of electricity spread throughout her body as Ninya absorbed the spell's power but she did not flinch from it.

Ninya was surprised how little the lighting bolt hurt. Her resistance to magic attacks really had grown to the point that it amazed her. She couldn't have imagined wielding this sort of power back when she and her friends were still iron ranked adventurers. A surge of confidence overcame her as she realized the difference in strength between herself and her opponent.

"Is that the best you can do Undead King? Let me show you what a real spell caster can do."

In her hands she held a Staff of Power. It appeared to be made out of light colored wood. Along the shaft were runes and on top rested what looked to be a murky crystal ball. This staff excelled in aiding a caster to channel spells and could be used to cast a number of spells stored within it.

But she didn't plan on using any spell stored within the staff. Ninya wished to cast a spell she only recently learned. Holding the staff aloft the runes began to glow blue and the crystal ball filled with lighting.

[Twin Dragon Lighting!]

Sparks of electricity filled the air as two dragons made out of lighting spiraled out of the crystal on top of the Staff of Magi. As the Dragon Lighting rushed towards Davernoch screamed "How?! How does this little girl know this magic?!" Lighting engulfed the undead's frame and the smell of burnt flesh wafted through the air. Davernoch fell backwards his body burnt to a charred crisp.

Nearby Lukrut was dodging scimitars that were being hurled at him. Edstrom did not allow the ranger a moment's respite and he was getting tired dodging all these attacks. Nicks and cuts across his legs and arms dripped out small amounts of blood from the times he couldn't doge the attacks entirely. They were just flesh wounds.

He needed a distraction. Parrying one of the scimitars that were hurled at him out of the way with his bow Lukrut cast a spell. Another scimitar cut into his side before flying off for another attack run despite this he maintained his concentration.

[Summon Nature's Ally!]

A bright circle of light shown on the ground in front of Edstrom and a giant black bear appeared. The bear furiously roared as it attacked Edstrom. The nimble dancer dodged out of the way and used her scimitar to slit the bear's neck while three scimitars impaled themselves upon the large bear's black hide.

Grievously wounded the bear lay dying as Edstrom finished it off with another stroke of her blade. Lukrut's summons were not very strong. This was because he multi-classed in a few areas. Inspired by Tri'ade's use of arcane magic despite being a warrior he dreamed of doing the same one day. When he was unconscious processing the power of the soul fragment of the giant demon tree he didn't realize that dream became manifest in him becoming an Arcane Archer.

That didn't matter he knew he could make the shot to kill Edstrom now. During their little dance he managed to get a few more pot shots into her and she had lost a bit of blood dancing around flinging swords at him with her enchanted blades. He drew the string of his elven composite bow and imagined shooting through all of her defenses straight into that pretty head of hers.

[Piercing Shot!]

As his arrow left the bow it turned transparent ethereal, when Edstrom recalled her dancing scimitars back to defend her in a whirling wall of steel they didn't protect her this time as Lukrut's arrow went right through them.

Only when it entered Edstrom's forehead did the arrow become corporeal force of the blow launched her body back and Edstrom hit her head on the ground. All the dancing scimitars clattered to the ground with her.

Peshurian continued to lash with his umari, his metallic whip at Peter. The puncture holes in his armor were still visible when Ramanus earlier penetrated his armor to drink the warrior's life force. While Peshurian continually shouted Dimensional Slash as he attacked it didn't appear to Peter he was actually using a martial art.

Clad in adamantite, having a ring of troll regeneration and Ramanus Peter was an indomitable tank. Peshurian was more of an annoyance chipping at him doing nothing in meaningful damage. He had taken a bit of damage from Davernoch's fireball earlier thank to the fact his ring of Troll Regeneration lowered his fire resistance but he had long recovered from it using Ramanus.

Looking over at Dyne who was still crippled Peter wanted to finish this guy off quickly. Rushing forward at Peshurian he attacked.

[Full Throttle!] [Strong Tri-Assault!]

Moving like lighting Peter closed the distance between him and his opponent. He slashed at Peshurian three times in less than three seconds. Once at the side of his abdomen cutting and biting into his torso. The pain of this attack knocked his opponent off balance. The second chopped off Peshurian's left arm off. " _Maim! Kill! Let the gods have him!"_ Ramanus urged Peter on to lay into his opponent with abandon through their telepathic bond, to feed him more of the warrior's life.

Peshurian screamed in pain at the loss of his arm. Peter dealt his third and final blow driving Ramanus his blade deep into his opponent's neck. The blade cut as it dived deep penetrating his unprotected skin severing the warrior's head from his shoulders.

Malmvist couldn't see his comrades fates. The [Gust Of Wind] tunnel was kicking up small bits of dirt which forced him to narrow his vision to avoid it getting it in his eyes. He could only hear the muffled screams of Peshurian as he died.

Dyne was on his knees now. The poison was taking effect and he was sweating. He needed to heal himself. Dyne couldn't stop channeling the [Gust of Wind] spell without leaving himself vulnerable to another lighting thrust from Malmvist and given how just a little scratch managed to open up his kneecaps he wasn't in the right condition to dodge an attack.

"You can't keep this up! Your a dead man". Malmvist yelled to carry his voice over the sound of rushing wind. He began to advance towards Dyne fighting the torrent of wind the druid was blowing his way.

"I don't have to. I have something you don't."

[Fire Wall]

"Friends."

Columns of fire sprung up between Dyne and Malmvist. As they formed the wind Dyne was blowing carried the flames straight towards the arrogant swashbuckler burning him in a cyclone of fire. His opponent distracted and blocked off Dyne stopped channeling [Gust of Wind] and tended to his wounds.

[Heal]

Dyne was showered in bright light and his crippling leg wound began to heal. The wound closing up and his shattered kneecap was restored. The poison running through in his veins was gone and so was his fever. And as Dyne recovered Malmvist realized he was the last one of his team left standing.

"Shit! Back off! This duel is between us."

The eyes of the combatants looked towards Tri'ade up on the balcony. Tri'ade made the "rules" before the fight started and anyone floating them would be executed. Though most of that was Tri'ade having fun he knew he was expected to a decision now.

"This is a fight not a one on one duel. It's not their fault that your comrades were weak."

"That's not fair." Malmvist was more of an assassination specialist than a fighter. He had his equipment specially made to ensure his opponents would die quickly and with little fuss. Of those he killed most died within the first few seconds by Rose Thorn's enchantments and with the speed of his [Lighting Thrust] martial art. He couldn't take them all at once!

Tri'ade chuckled. "That's funny coming from you." Clapping his hands together Tri'ade shouted "Continue!"

Malmvist could see wounds on Lukrut's limbs, but Peter and Ninya didn't even have a scratch on them that he could tell. The dam druid in front of him could even cast heal! Malmvist cursed his former compatriots for not even seriously wounding a single one of them like he did.

This was a nightmare. He was going to be killed for sure. Escape he needed to escape. But those shadow things were there. And the man…. No that monster orchestrating this all could kill him with a single spell. No escape, no hope of survival. If that was the case there was only one thing to do. Fight! Make these little punks remember the name of Malmvist of the Thousand Kills!

[Ability Boost!][Dull Pain!] [Lighting Strike!]

Malmvist sped towards his target Dyne the group's healer. If he could take him out there could be a chance he could inflict lasting damage to these bastards. Malmvist jumped through the [Wall of Fire] separating them once again taking fire damage. Thanks to his martial art [Dull Pain] he barely felt anything as the heat of the fire burned him as he rushed through the flames without hesitation.

"No you don't!" Lukrut realizing what his goal was drew back his bow string.

[Grasping Arrow!]

A glowing green arrow shot forth from Lukrut's bow towards the swashbuckler. While he was fast Malvmist's trajestory was easy for Lukrut to predict. He hit him square in the chest with his shot. From it grew brambles that grappled and constricted Malmvist's movements. The thorns dug in deep and from their pricks delivered poison into his veins.

This only served to slow Malmvist of the Thousand Kills down and he continued to lunged forwards towards Dyne. His hair on fire the swashbuckler looks more like a demon than a man. But this gave Dyne the time he needed to cast another spell. He met his fearsome opponent with an outstretched hand.

[Call Lighting!]

Storm clouds appeared overhead and in a flurry of blinding light three lighting bolts came crashing down upon the slowed Malmvist. Sparks flew as the lighting bolts struck his head and shoulders coursing electricity throughout his body towards the ground below.

[Call Lighting] was a tier three spell but could be cast at higher tiers to strike opponents with more lighting bolts. One bolt of lighting at tier three, two at tier four and three at tier five. It had a few drawbacks such as you can't cast it within confined spaces ( with exception to large indoor areas big enough to accommodate the cloud animation.) but the developers also added a perk. If it was raining in-game Call Lighting would do extra damage. It was an ideal evocation spell for druid players at mid tier.

Malmvist collapsed to the ground laying at Dyne's feet. From the burns, the poison and the shock of electricity flowing through him not even [Dull Pain] was effective in numbing the agony he was in. Dyne gripped his mace and slammed it down on Malvmist's head to end his misery. Malmvist's head popped like a watermelon under Dyne's Heavy Mace.

"Good Job!" Tri'ade said watching Dyne executing the last member of Six Arms.

Darkness's growth was impressive. Previously Ninya or Dyne could only cast around third tier spells. Now they've gone up to casting fifth and six tier thanks to absorbing the "soul" of the Great Demon Tree. Lukrut also surprised Tri'ade with his new archery abilities. A far leap forward considering Ninya could only cast second tier magic when they first met a few months ago.

If they had grown that much from the Demon Tree's soul fragment what would have happened If he had given them EXP boosting items before transferring the EXP to them? Tri'ade didn't think of it at the time as he was more focused on getting to Re-Estize but that might increased their strength even further. Or they might have hit a hard level cap. Tri'ade couldn't say for sure. He would have to train them in Nazarick against tougher opponents than they could easily find in the New World.

"Hell Yea! Did you see those shots I made!" Lukrut celebrated now that the battle was over.

"What were those brambles?" Dyne inquired curious about his comrades new skills.

"I can enchant my arrows with magic as I string them up. Cool isn't it? Think of all the money we'll save!" Lukrut boasted lapping in the adoration of the others. Certainly they would save lot of money using enchanted arrows could be an expensive prospect for adventurers despite their usefulness.

Most groups used what magic ammunition they had sparingly. But as an Arcane Archer Lukrut was now capable of making his mundane normal arrows have a weak magical enchantment upon them as he fired them.

"Speaking of magic Ninya you were amazing! You killed that lich with one spell!"

"As expected from one known as The Spellcaster" Lukrut chimed in.

Meek as ever Ninya felt very awkward receiving praise. "Stop. The magic just came to me! I didn't work to learn it. It's all thanks to Lord Tri'ade."

"She's right you know." Dyne kneeled and held his head up high speaking loudly so Tri'ade could hear him. " Thank you Lord for victory today against these villains." The rest of Darkness followed Dyne's example in thanking Tri'ade for the strength he bestowed upon them.

"You have all become a shining example of what humans can achieve with proper guidance. I couldn't be more pleased with you my servants."

"I could have swatted those bugs faster." It was hard to tell but it looked like Naberal was pouting. It appeared she was jealous that they were receiving such high praise from Tri'ade.

Answering her envy Tri'ade responded by patting her on the head. "I know you could." Naberal smiled but Tri'ade withdrew his hand. "But this was a test. The point isn't to confirm what you know. It's to find out what you don't. These humans provided a most excellent result" May Be Tri'ade thought as Darkness continued to serve loyally and got stronger some in Nazarick would reconsider their feelings towards humans. At least that's what Tri'ade hoped.

Sebas returned to the training area with Solution in her maid outfit following behind him. No one else could be seen with them, Tri'ade looked towards them and raised his voice so they could hear him from on top of the balcony. "Did you find Zero?"

Sebas nodded. "Yes we have my lord."

"Well where is Zero?"

Solution in her maid outfit provided the answer. "I have him Lord Tri'ade. Do you wish to see him? I made sure not to kill him yet."

 _Ah she swallowed him. It's easy to forget she's a slime monster._

"Kill him and put him alongside the rest of these corpses. We'll need to leave most of them here for the Kingdom." Looking over to Peter and the rest of Darkness he gave them his orders. "Loot their bodies and preserve Edstrom's corpse. We're going to take her prisoner."

Darkness went about looting Six arms and doing as they were told. Though Lukrut and the others were surprised when the body of Zero a giant hulking muscle bound man suddenly plopped its way out of Solution's chest and onto the ground. He was covered in acid burns and his neck was completely dissolved. Zero's head rolled onto the ground.

Countess Diana De Francia Leon feared what came next. What these brutes…. No these monsters would do next. She gathered her courage and use her only assets she had to try to get herself out of this horrible predicament. She was thinking about survival. Even if it meant Tri'ade would force himself upon her it would mean she would get to live. Unlike her dead husband.

Leaning forward she brought her shoulders together to press her cleavage together and to puff out her chest. She tried speaking in the most demure way possible. Her husband and other noble men had always found this alluring she hoped Tri'ade would too.

"Wh-What's going to happen to me?"

Cocking his head towards the Countess Tri'ade had a full view of Countess Leon's voluminous breasts tightly bound by her corset. The way they were pushed up extenuating their fullness. He knew what she was doing though after having experienced similar things from the Succubi he'd summoned.

Still if this noble woman was willing to put herself out like this to save her own skin she could be useful. Playing along Tri'ade said to the Countess. "You? Milady I would like you to join me at my home for a time. While we sort out this ugly business you understand. I'm sure you had no part in this illicit affair."

"O-Of course not! I would never! M-My husband always insisted in bringing me to these horrid things."

"Really? Where is your husband?" Tri'ade asked out of feigned curiosity.

"He… He…He is beside you."

"Huh? Oh!" Tri'ade got her meaning. _So the man was her husband! No wonder she had an empty seat at her table. Of course._

"We'll like I said we can sort everything out later. I wouldn't want a innocent beauty such as yourself to suffer needlessly." Tri'ade empathize the words innocent as he said them as he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Y-Your so kind Lord." A chill went up her spine as Tri'ade kissed her hand.

Placing his hand over hers Tri'ade kept close to the countess. Naberal was staring death glares at the countess, her jealousy building that this insect was getting her Lord's attention.

"Of course I'll need to ask a few small favors from you."

"Such as?" Countess Diana Leon asked with some hesitation.

"Well a lady like yourself, I'm certain you know how to dance. I have been invited to a feast held by his majesty, the King. I'm afraid I'm ill prepared for it."

"Y-you want me to teach you how to dance?"

"Certainly. We can discuss that and matters relating to your family tomorrow. I'm afraid my schedule is rather full tonight."

Those below them in the training area were still nicking the various gear Six Arms had and transported Edstrom's body for storage when Tri'ade went over by the railing with Countess Leon.

"Sebas, Solution. After your done I want you to escort the Countess here back to the Mansion."

"That woman?" Solution asked.

"Yes. I have something special planned for her so make sure none of the Royal Select see her leaving. Oh…. Don't harm her."

"Thank you Lord." The words came somewhat easier out of her mouth but she still feared for her future. Even if she made it out of Tri'ade's clutches what would happen to her if her husband's son Francis took over the estate. She was merely his step mother and they never got along. "What about my husband?"

"Tomorrow. Don't worry Ill be taking him back home."

[Gate]

Tri'ade opened a Gate to the Frozen Prison on the 5th Floor of Nazarick. The wraiths guarding the place had been informed to expect new prisoners and were waiting their new prisoners. Using his Command Mantra ability Tri'ade gave orders to the rest of the corrupt nobles on the balcony.

"Do not resist! Follow the zombie!"

Unable to resist the weak minded nobles got up from their chairs. This didn't stop them from displaying their horror at their realizing they could no longer control their bodies anymore. Many of them that could turned their heads to stare at Countess Diana Leon with pleading looks in their eyes. Even as they followed the zombie Count Leon through the obsidian black portal a part of them knew that wherever they were being taken wasn't a place they would wish to be.

There was nothing the countess could do though. While she may have escaped whatever fate the monstrous magic caster had in store for them the Countess still didn't know what he had planned for her. Dianna told herself she had to think about her own survival as she saw friends, other wives of the nobles aligned with Eight Fingers, enter into the yawning black void of the portal.

Most of them will be sent to Neuronist Painkill's torture chambers to squeeze every bit of useful information from them. And to judge their usefulness to Nazarick o at the very least the usefulness of their identities. Identities Nazarick's doppelgangers could use to infiltrate the Kingdom's nobility with.

Solution jumped onto the balcony of the building in front of the training area in a single bound.

"With your permission Lord I will be taking this woman with me."

"Of course." Tri'ade replied not knowing what Solution intended.

Countess Diana Leon couldn't look at Solution in the eye as beautiful as she was she could tell Solution didn't like her. "I-I'll be in your care."

A wicked smile came over Solution's face "Try not to struggle." Solution grabbed the countess's head and pushed her onto her breasts which soon seemed to turn to slime. The countess screams were muffled as she was being pulled into Solution's body face first. Countess Dianna Leon was fully enveloped by Solution yet Solution did not appear to be the least bit bloated by swallowing her whole.

"Don't harm her remember that."

"Of course Lord Tri'ade. None of my acids are touching her. She's kicking around and I made her an air passage to keep her from suffocating.

"Like a baby within a womb."

For the first time Tri'ade could see a red blush coming across Solution's face. He wondered how exactly that could be with her being a slime assuming human form. Perhaps she made it happen for Tri'ade to see or was it truly involuntary? Solution placed on of her hands over her stomach. "Yes. I suppose it is like that."

"Well it's all good then. I need to check up on something before we move on." Tri'ade sat down at the table he commandeered and pulled out a Mirror of Remote viewing from his inventory.

"Mirror of Remote Viewing. Search Lakyus."

Rather than being subject to a view of Re-Estize a list of names appeared on the Mirror of Remote Viewing.

Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra

Lakyus Myre

Lakyus Seral

Lakyus Sunderland

Lakyus Vallie

And so on and so on. It seemed the Mirror of Remote viewing was asking Tri'ade WHICH Lakyus he wanted to view. While he didn't know Lakyus's full name Tri'ade did know she was of nobility. Nobles as he had learned traditionally had four names with royalty having five. It was probably this reason why Trolls thought long names were the names of cowards.

"What are you doing?" Naberal inquired looking over Tri'ade's shoulder at the list of names appearing on the Mirror of Remote Viewing.

"I want to check on the status of the other teams attacking Eight Fingers. This is the easiest way to do it." Frankly Tri'ade wanted to spy on what that Evileye character was doing. If she was especially strong it might be further evidence of her being a player. But Tri'ade doubted Evileye was her real name so he had search Lakyus's instead and hoped she was with her. That and he suspected Evileye might have divination wards and other countermeasures upon her. Tri'ade didn't wish to trip them.

"Mirror of Remote Viewing, Search Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra." Tri'ade said hoping he got the pronunciation right.

The list of names disappeared and a new image took its place. A large building in what looked to be in the upper district of Re-Estize appeared. The acreage this place had was far larger than the mansion Sebas and Solution rented.

Large stone walls similar to the hideout Tri'ade was currently at surrounded the estate. Multiple carriages could be seen alongside the cobblestone road within the estate. Whatever this place was it was gathering lot of nobles. Considering the Mirror had not centered upon Lakyus she must be inside the main building.

As he continued looking upon the building he saw a large creature crash through the glass windows located on the upper floor. It was a large muscle bound monster with bat like wings, its body covered in purple colored scales with a goat like head. Its thick arms carried a massive stone maul. The creature flew back into the building and light flashed in the hole it created upon its violent exit.

 _A Scale Demon. What's it doing…..?_

Tri'ade remembered how he told Demiurge to handle the takeover of Eight Fingers. Of course Demiurge's subordinates would fight with the other attack squads. He hadn't thought of the wider implications of his orders with Demiurge in his rush to give them.

Not that he cared much about the other teams. If It was a choice between some human lives and the future of Ainz Ooal Gown it was obvious which Tri'ade should prioritize. It's not like the humans would value his life nor the lives of his servants if they knew of his monstrous nature.

That said the leader of Blue Rose was different. She saved an entire village of demi-humans from the Sunlight Scripture just because she felt it was the right thing to do. More importantly Lakyus was the only one in the Kingdom who is known to be able to cast raise dead. If Gazef died in tonight's attack he could be raised by Lakyus but if she died. Well Tri'ade would be forced to lose an ally in the royal court or reveal his power as a divine magic caster.

There was also the possible side benefit that if he saved Lakyus it might endear him to Evileye. If she was a player that would prove important to getting information out of her about the anomaly that brought him and the rest of Ainz Ooal Gown into this world. The more time he spent in this world the more he became convinced the anomaly was the only true threat to Ainz Ooal Gown's supremacy in the New World. Any information about it would be vital to safeguarding the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

"Where is that?" Solution asked looking at the Mirror of Remote Viewing.

"Somewhere I need to be."

* * *

 _ **Afterword**_

Woot! New Record for chapter length! Makes up for it being late yes? Yes? Well this time I'll wont make a promise I wont keep. The next chapter will be done when it's done. It took me all day to review and do edits upon this chapter. Do not be surprised if this chapter is updated with further grammar edits in the future.

I really hoped I properly conveyed Peter and his friends character development and wrote their characters them well in this chapter. This is an important chapter for them. As it is likely one of the highlights of their careers serving Ainz Ooal Gown. Since as Tri'ade transitions from being an "adventurer" to a ruler they will likely show up less frequently in the narrative in the long run.

Also hoped I wrote Tri'ade's reaction to meeting Evileye properly. I wanted to make meeting her and Lakyus important to Tri'ade so his later actions make a bit more sense. In the canon Ainz's meeting with Blue Rose as Momon was very much a minor sideshow which I felt it could be so much more.

And Evileye before you might asked used magic like Health Essense of Mana Essence on Darkness which is why she freaked out regarding Sebas. This mirrors her freak out reaction to Demiurge when meeting him in canon.

The battle between Six Arms and Darkness could have been longer but the more I read about Six Arms the more I got convinced they relied more on their equipment than their skills to achieve an adamantite threat ranking. They also had no real evidence in the lore of working together to overcome opponents and in fact in the light novels they wanted to solo duel Sebas one by one so confident they were in their victory.

That and I kinda wanted to boost Darkness's power level more to make them more useful as characters in their own right. So I could use them in more situations going forward.

I hoped you guys liked the last chapter too. I know I'm spoiling you guys two chapters in a single month! Ehhe. Never worry there is so much more I want to write in this alternative timeline to Overlord. I won't be stopping anytime soon. Until next time.

Edited for spelling mistakes on 07/31/2019


	22. Volume 5: Chapter 3: Blood Trial

_**Volume 4: Re-Estize, Chapter 3: Blood Trail.**_

 _ **I HAVE RETURNED!**_

 _ **I don't normally do pre words like this but hot damn it's been six months since my last update. As some of you may know if you have been reading the reviews I had some troubles over the summer that kinda slowed to a halt most work I was doing on this chapter. Anyhow. Those issues resolved themselves a few months ago and given a unique mix of procrastination, small attention span, and perfectionism I'm STILL editing, combing over dialog, cutting and rewriting whole scenes from the rough draft of this chapter.**_

 _ **So I'm pulling a King Solomon and cutting the baby in half. Essentially making the large 15k+ chapter I originally had into two smaller chapters. The next will arrive next month after I finish its ending and proofread it thoroughly. But I've gone on long enough though let's go to what you've been waiting for.**_

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

 _ **City of Re-Estize-Upper District-Majestic Lion Resort**_

Stepping out of a [Gate] Tri'ade was in the front yard of the large building that he saw through the Mirror of Remote Viewing. Tri'ade had left Naberal behind with Darkness and sent them to the Gazef's squad to assist them. He didn't know if Demiurge had ordered his demons to spare the Warrior-Captain but he wanted to be safe rather than sorry. It'd be inconvenient if he lost a friend, no pawn perhaps is a better word, so close to the King's ear. I

Naberal had to be with Darkness to ensure they could communicate with him if things went wrong. While Ninya could act as a messenger given she knew the [Message] spell she wasn't a NPC of Nazerick and Tri'ade couldn't completely trust her. If she knew Nazerick was behind these demon attacks in Re-Estize Ninya might get ideas to betray them and perhaps try to flee with her sister somewhere. This was her homeland after all and while she may feel indebted to Tri'ade that gratitude may not completely overshadow that fact. Darkness was used to having Narberal tag around while Tri'ade went off to do his own thing so they did not question it.

As for the area he landed in could be described as a small park rather than a traditional front yard. Wooden benches were strewn about the area along small paths surrounded by well managed garden. A large fountain in front of the building before a large staircase leading to the main doors. This fountain had a prominent lion statue at its top and similar lion statues stood on the sides of the staircase leading up to the doors.

This place was the Majestic Lion, a resort for traveling noblemen visiting the capital of Re-Estize. It offered more than rooms for rent, it had a whole suite of entertainment and luxury services for its clientele. Card games and alcohol of the most expensive could be found here. There was even a race track and an indoor dueling arena on the premises for noble sport. Princess Renner did suggest more illicit entertainment could be found at the resort.

None of that mattered now of course. Tri'ade had to find Lakyus before she got herself killed. If Darkness failed in protecting Gazef the leader of Blue Rose was the only one in the city capable of resurrecting him. At least not without Tri'ade revealing more of his power to the natives. Being a capable swordsman and magician was already incredible enough that he was pestered relentlessly by the Mages Guild in E-Rantel. If Tri'ade revealed he knew divine magic as well the natives might quickly change his nickname from Fire Lord to Fire God.

That kind of thing worried him. Gods after all received prayers from everyone wishing for help. Worshipers asked their gods for solutions for everything, for every difficulty they come across in their lives. Hell how many times could he say no to someone who lost a loved one that he could immediately resurrect at any time? Despite the fact he liked lording his power over others and the earnest devotion of the NPC's It wasn't something that he wanted to be bothered with. Not when there was so much more practical work to do for Ainz Ooal Gown.

Tri'ade quickly located the shattered window the Scale Demon flew out of. It was on the second floor of the resort so Tri'ade used [Fly] to get up there. When he got there he saw what looked to be once a large dining area for the noble guests of the resort. The place was in shambles. Signs of battle were sewn across the room. Tables and chairs shattered into pieces littered the ground thrown about by the chaotic melee. The smell of death hung in the air like a pungent perfume from all the corpses littering the dining room.

Some of the corpses appeared to be in noble garb while many more were of the Marquis's men sent with Lakyus's squad. The corpses were in pieces, heads missing, the top torso of some soldiers were on the other side of the room from where their legs used to be, and the pulverized mush of human innards could be seen splattered about.

There in the middle of this gruesome display fought Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, leader of Blue Rose, alone against the brute monstrosity of a Scale Demon. With the Sword of Darkness Kilineiram in hand she fought with the beast. Six golden swords floated around her blocking the scale demon's massive maul while she struck home with Kilineiram. Tri'ade tried looking for Tina but he was spotted by Lakyus. "Tri'ade?!" She yelled out. Taking that as his cue Tri'ade cast a spell to assist her. [Telekinesis!"]

Focusing on the giant stone maul the demon was using Tri'ade pulled the demon's weapon towards him. Given the differences in levels between Tri'ade and the Scale Demon there was no need to worry about demon's naturally high spell resistance canceling out the spell. The Scale Demon was dragged towards him as he struggled to maintain the grip of his stone maul.

[Dark Blade Mega Impact!]

Distracted by Tri'ade's pull on his weapon the demon was vulnerable to attack and Lakyus exploited the opportunity. Dark energy surged forth from Kilineiram the demon blade as Lakyus swung it across the large biceps of the Scale Demon. At the same time the six golden swords floating around Lakyus attacked sticking into the demon's back.

A loud groan of pain could be heard escaping Scale Demon's goat skull from Lakyus's repeated attacks. The hulking monstrosity loosened his grip on his weapon, letting it fly towards Tri'ade. Stepping aside Tri'ade let the stone maul fly past him out the shattered window where it crashed into the garden below.

Disarmed the brute of a demon had nothing but his large fists to defend himself with. With a swing of it's massive arms the Scale Demon pushed Lakyus back. Rushing forward with adamantite great-sword in hand Tri'ade thrust the tip of his blade into the creature's muscular abdomen and retracted it as he side stepped out of the way of the demon's strikes.

Still Tri'ade didn't want to take any chances, the Scale Demon as large as he was, could probably still kill Lakyus with its bare hands given the chance. "Come at me coward!" The Scale Demon turned his head to Tri'ade. "You heard me you bastard. Fight me!" Tri'ade's taunts worked and the Scale Demon charged at him ignoring Lakyus.

Gripping his great-sword with both of his hands Tri'ade leveraged his superior strength against the beast charging at him. The Scale Demon hurled his fist at Tri'ade but he stood his ground swinging his great-sword. Cutting through the air the hulking demon's hand fell to the ground as Tri'ade cut it off his sword slicing through the scales protecting its body. The demon did not give up threw another punch with it's left but anticipating this Tri'ade aimed for another strike, his adamantite blade severing another one the large demon's hands.

The demon wailed in pain and shifted the gaze of its blue eyes from one severed stump to the next in disbelief. The beast of a demon was accustomed to overpowering it's opponents with its strength. To have the tables turned on it like this shook the demon to its core. Fear began to take root in it's mind. He, he was going to die today. And his death was going to be like the humans he crushed with his maul. Pathetic. The death of a weakling the demon thought. The scale demon was shaking in fear in the presence of the being before him as he realized his fate.

Without mercy Tri'ade struck the Scale Demon's right leg. Crippled the demon lost its balance and fell on his back. Struggling to get back up Tri'ade put his foot down and pinned the Scale Demon to the floor. Performing the coup de grace Tri'ade plunged his great-sword deep into the Scale Demon's chest. With his foot still on his chest Tri'ade could feel the last gasp of air leave the Scale Demon's lungs as it died. The corpse of the demon disappeared beneath him and Tri'ade's foot hit the floor.

Sliding his sword out of the dead demon's chest Tri'ade's gaze turned towards Lakyus. She looked battered and exhausted compared to how she looked back at Lo Rente Castle. Her golden hair was disheveled and a trickle of blood ran down the side of her forehead. It seemed the Scale Demon got in a few good hits before Tri'ade arrived. Lakyus was using her demonic sword Kilineiram as a makeshift crutch leaning on it as she recovered her breath.

"Are you alright?" Triade asked as he offered Lakyus his hand to help steady herself.

"I-I am thanks to you."

[Cure Moderate Wounds]

Light spread from Lakyus's hands and enveloped her removing the blood from her face and healing her wounds. After the light began to vanish she attempted to quickly fix her hair to look more presentable.

"W-Why are you here?" Lakyus raised her hands apologetically "Not that I mind or anything! I don't want to sound ungrateful but why aren't you with your squad? "

"I came here for you. I didn't want to lose you." Tri'ade moved in close to the blonde priestess as said this in an attempt to fluster her. He had a feeling she was attracted to him given the last time they spoke and wanted to confirm it.

Success! Lakyus's cheeks turned a bright red like an apple. Tri'ade had to appreciate how girls in this New World blushed. Unlike back on Earth the red hue on their cheeks was much more obvious. Like it was something out of an anime. Lakyus stuttered out a reply "Wha-What are you saying?"

Having confirmed his suspicions Tri'ade refocused on the task at hand. This wasn't really the time nor place to flirt. So he decided to redirect the conversation. "Where is Tina?" Tri'ade asked he had looked around for the girl but saw no trace of the blond ninja.

The blush that was present on Lakyus's face disappeared and her eyes grew wide as if she realized something important. "Tina!" She yelled as the leader of blue rose turned away and ran through the large hole in the wall of the dining room.

* * *

Earlier that night. When Lakyus's squad arrived at the Majestic Lion Resort they found it vacant. From the reports Lakyus read it should have been a hive of activity illicit or otherwise. The place after all acted as a front for the Gambling Division of Eight Fingers.

Gambling wasn't strictly illegal in the Re-Estize Kingdom but the Gambling Division of Eight Fingers often participated in predatory and exploitative schemes which were. Laundering money for the other divisions with "wins" in rigged games, bookies collecting bets for races and tournaments and of course the loan sharks that preyed on those who lost out on their bets. Nobles losing huge sums of gold in rigged games of chance were often offered "ways" to get their debt forgiven. Favors in exchange for other favors. The Gambling Division was said to even sell these favors owed to them the other parts of Eight Fingers if they didn't collect on it themselves.

The Majestic Lion Resort as its name suggested was not an out of the way hideout but a place of high class hospitality. The place should have been abuzz with activity from its noble clientele staying here. Many nobles who visited the capital on business frequented the Majestic Lion for partake in the luxurious accommodations offered to its guests as it served both as a gambling house and Inn. Deciding to split up the squad to cover more ground they split into two teams. Lakyus and Tina would be with the group entering in through the front door while Boris Axelson, one of Marquis Raeven retired adventurers, would lead the other group of soldiers entering in the back.

When Lakyus's group entered through the main doors they found hell hounds in the lobby, biting and tearing on burnt corpses. A hell hound was a low level demon that resembles a large black dog with infernal red eyes and sulfuric breath from the licks of flame escaping their mouths. The demons weren't eating the dead rather they were mutilating them, defiling their corpses like chew toys.

One of the hell hounds began to howl but was killed soon after by Tina rushing forward and slitting its throat. The rest of the squad made short work of the other demons in the lobby but more hell hounds, gazer devils began pouring in from other areas of the resort. The soldiers in the squad stood their ground against the demons while the two adventurers made short work of the demons in front of them. The two members of blue rose soon focused their attention in flanking the demons the rest of their squad was dealing with overwhelming the small horde of infernal creatures.

It was then as they began to catch their breath that they heard the sound of heavy plodding footsteps approaching them. One of the doors leading further into the resort tore off its hinges as it burst open revealing a large three meter tall demon behind it. It had a goat's skull as a head with large demonic horns, and bat like wings. The demon's muscle bound form was visible for all to see. It's arms were as thick as tree trunks, its shoulders were nearly meter wide, lastly its abs and chest were so hard they almost looked to be chiseled from stone. Purple reptilian scales covered the demon's shoulders and the outside of its arms like armor. The Scale demon was a hulking monstrosity of demonic muscle and in its grip was a gigantic maul made out of solid stone that appeared almost as long as the demon was tall.

"W-What t-the hell is that thing?!" one of the soldiers screamed. Knowing the man's fear the Scale Demon let loose a bone chilling roar to spread it and charged headlong into the squad of soldiers. Six golden swords let loose in the air piercing the demon's shoulders as it charged. Ever heroic Lakyus rushed forward to meet the demon to place herself before it could reach the soldiers. Just looking at the demon she knew these guys would stand little chance in a fight with it. Lakyus just hoped she could.

The Scale Demon swung his giant stone maul at her and Lakyus braced herself as she moved to block it. The sheer momentum of the swing pushed Lakyus to the side, her boots scraped against the floor, and her sword Kilineiram came close to her face. If she hadn't braced herself before she blocked the strike the impact would have knocked her off balance.

A small row of spears from the soldiers thrust forth appearing to pierce the demon but the tips bounced off. The Scale Demon's damage resistance was too high for non-magical weapons to be effective. Spears were broken and bodies were crushed as the demon's great stone maul crashed down on the brave soldiers facing it. Seeing the brutal display Lakyus regretted Gagaran not being with them. With her here holding the mass of muscle that was the demon at bay, this fight would be much easier.

They needed to draw the demon away from the soldiers that accompanied them. They stood no chance facing the hulking slab of demon meat alone. Lakyus and Tina used ranged attacks to damage it, rather than chase and crush the soldiers who posed no threat to it the Scale Demon moved to fight them.

The demon was strong, it had to be to be able to wield that great stone maul, Lakyus couldn't afford to trade blows with the beast so whenever she could she gave her ground to it. Keeping her distance allowed her to more easily avoid the wide swings of the hulking demon. Eventually they lured the demon to a dining room upstairs on the second floor. The demon had to shove tables and chairs in his way while the two of them could move between them.

This was the last time Lakyus saw Tina. The demon frustrated with all the furniture in its way swung its stone maul in a wide arch around him and twirled around following that swing with another. It became a whirlwind of splintered wood and furniture as the demon span around. Tina was caught up in the range of this maelstrom and as she was sent flying through an interior wall into the next room.

The marquis's soldiers followed in behind and entered the room. Seeing her fight the demonic beast alone the soldiers attacked despite knowing how pointless it was to try to harm the demon. Lakyus was famous for many things but chief among them was her ability to cast [Raise Dead]. She was the only one in the entire Kingdom that could cast that spell. If she died here it would be a big blow to Kingdom. Lakyus yelled at them to stay away but they didn't listen to her. These men saw her struggling against the demon alone. Some of them screamed "For Re-Estize!"as they charged to their deaths.

Without mercy the demon's stone maul pulverized them into gory bits of flesh that scattered across the dining room. Blood splattered across the floor and walls as skulls were crushed or as limbs torn from their bodies as the demon battered them with his great stone maul. While the soldiers didn't do any damage to the hulking demon they managed to distract it long enough for Lakyus to recover with healing magic.

She told herself she would remember their sacrifice, that there was nothing she could do. [Raise Dead] couldn't bring back the dead if the corpse was in pieces. The more damaged the body was more likely it was that the magic would fail or worse backfire in turning the corpse into an undead. And these soldiers of Marquis were too weak to withstand the resurrection magic to begin with. If [Raise Dead] was used their bodies would turn to dust.

Gathering her hatred and fury for the monster that had killed so many she launched a furious attack with Kilineiram. Sidestepping a wide swing from the stone maul she slashed at its side and followed through on that attack with Kilineiram's special ability.

[Dark Blade Mega Impact!]

The demonic blade began to glow with dark energy and as Lakyus tore into the demon's side the dark energy billowed out from it. The wave of energy pushed the hulking monstrosity pushing it back. Shards of broken glass scattered on the floor of the dining room as the demon was forced out of the dining room and into the large window overlooking the resort's gardens.

Recovering easily the demon began to flap its bat like wings as it was hurled in the air out of the building. The demon charged at her flying like a meteor crashing into the earth. Lakyus's floating swords went on the offensive to blunt the oncoming charge and stuck into the demon like it was a pin cushion. She used her enemy's temporary lapse in attention as the pain of the sword's attack to jump out of the way of the charging demon's attack. The large demon crashed into the dining room's bar area with alcohol running down its back from the broken bottles.

There was little time for rest though as the demon soon resumed its attack. Floating around Lakyus All six floating swords formed a layered defense in front of her. They served to slow the giant stone maul's momentum as the demon's powerful swings pushed the swords back. This allowed her to evade the demon's attempts to hit her and strike with Kilineiram in between the time it took the demon to launch another sweeping attack.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him.

"Tri'ade?!"

 _What was he doing here? He was supposed to be all the way in the Warehouse District with the rest of his squad._

The demon she was fighting was ruthlessly single minded. Taking advantage of Lakyus's momentary distraction of seeing Tri'ade it lifted its great stone maul getting ready to slam it down to splat the puny human in front of him. However before it could bring its giant stone maul to full swing Tri'ade spoke.

["Telekinesis']

The attack that Lakyus was expecting did not come. She disperse the floating swords that were arrayed to defend her to see what was going on. It was an almost comical sight. The large muscle bound demon that had killed so many with its mighty swings was reeling back trying to hold onto its weapon. It lurched over trying to use its weight to resist the pull towards Tri'ade but to no avail. The weapon's wielder was even being slowly dragged along with his weapon.

Remembering the fallen around her Lakyus charged at the lumbering demon, attacking it in full force. [Dark Blade Mega Impact!]

Once again the darkness within the demonic blade Kilineiram blasted at the demon. Following up with this attack her floating blades impaled themselves upon their target like a pincushion. The demon's great stone maul flew out of its hands and crashed out of the window. Tri'ade nimbly dodged the incoming weapon.

With the floating swords still in the beast, it backhanded Lakyus sending her reeling backwards. Disoriented Lakyus could only hear the groans of the disarmed beast and Tri'ade yelling at it. When her head stopped ringing she saw an amazing sight.

With a great swing of his great-sword Tri'ade had lobbied off one of the demon's legs forcing it to lose its balance and land square on its back. The demon tried to get up but was stopped by an armored boot as Tri'ade stepped on it and impaled the hulking beast right in its heart. Standing there atop the beast that killed so many others with the light of the moon pouring in through the windows behind Tri'ade Lakyus's jaw dropped at the sight of this.

 _So cool! This is just like the heroic ballads… a-and I'm the damsel._

She grew hot as Lakyus thought of it. Her legs grew weak. It wasn't just from all the running and fighting she did today. Lakyus was swooning. When she was a little girl Lakyus was enraptured by the tales of the Thirteen Heroes. Now today she found herself in a similar position to Lady Madonna.

The tale Lady Madonna was in was the one about the Augustine Tournament. The Black Knight was a contestant in the tournament which he won easily. In the awards ceremony he honored Lady Madonna as the lady of love and Madonna was later kidnapped by demons. The demon gods servants who hoped to use her against the Black Knight in one of their wicked schemes but Lady Madonna was saved by the Black Knight. It was said later they privately declared their love for each other. Tragically though to prevent a second kidnapping they had to arrange a public break up and never saw each other again. Of course there were versions of the tale were Lady Madonna became a crazed stalker of the Black Knight and he held only contempt for her. But these versions of the tale were often told alongside those claiming the Black Knight was half demon. Lakyus preferred the more romantic version of the Augustine tale.

Leaning on her sword, the demonic blade Kilineiram the very sword the Black Knight used in the heroic ballads, Lakyus tried to steady herself.

"Are you alright?"

I-I am thanks to you." Lakyus stuttered out nervously. She felt the slight pain coursing through her from the bruises bruises she suffered and was reminded how she must have looked to her savior so she quickly cast a spell.

[Cure Moderate Wounds]

Light spread from Lakyus's hands and enveloped her removing the blood from her face and healing her wounds. Using her free hand she attempted to quickly fix her hair.

"B-but why? Why are you here?" Lakyus raised her hands apologetically "Not that I mind or anything! I don't want to sound ungrateful."

"To save you. I don't want to lose you."

The heat she felt earlier rushed to her face and felt a little light headed. It felt like the blood in her veins began to boil and Lakyus could feel the pulsations of blood throughout her body. Feeling every heart beat Lakyus began to feel a throbbing sensation between her legs. All she could imagine right now was Tri'ade taking off that mask of his, kissing and embracing her.

Lakyus stuttered out a reply "Wha-What are you saying?" _What is happening?!_ They had only met tonight and yet she felt an irresistible pull towards him. Lakyus haven't felt this way towards anyone else. Was this love at first sight? She only heard of it in tales she never thought it to be a real thing!

Gripping her sword in her main hand, her other hand went up to her chest. If Tri'ade said he wanted her right then and there Lakyus knew she couldn't resist him. Part of her wanted to be pinned and have this fire inside her smothered by Tri'ade's embrace.

"Where is Tina?"

A chill went down Lakyus's spine as the fire inside her was squelched. Tina! How could she have forgotten about her friend!? She needed to find her. She bolted towards the hole in the wall Tina had made when she was flung through the air by the demon's attack.

* * *

Tri'ade followed after Lakyus as she headed towards the large hole in the wall of the dining room. There was another hole in the wall of the hallway between the dining room and the adjourning room. It appeared to be some sort of gambling den, the sort you would find in a casino. There were several cards with stools lined up around the room. There were tables in the corners of this room separated by wall dividers to give clients some privacy in their card games, these were likely tables for VIP's. Tina was lying sprawled out on top of one of the card tables in the middle of the room, chips, cards and other debris scattered all around her.

The leader of blue rose lowered her head towards Tina's face to check her breathing. Lakyus breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Gods." It appeared Tina was still alive. Unconscious but alive. As an adamantite adventurer Tina was tougher than normal people, toughened by numerous hard fought battles with monsters.

Still the ninja's breastplate was cracked from the impact the stone maul left on it when it sent her flying. The concussive force must have forcefully ejected the air in her lungs. An adamantite adventurer like her probably would have normally recovered enough to regain their breath. However crashing through two dividing walls didn't give Tina much of a chance to regain her breath. What little air in her could have gasped would have expelled itself when she crashed through the resort's walls. She must have passed out from lack of oxygen.

Ninja's like other rogue archetypes had low physical defenses. They relied more on evasion and skill to avoid damage. In exchange they had some of the best damage output of any melee class. Nishikienrai Naberal's creator, also invested heavily in the ninja class because he preferred glass cannon characters whether it was in YGGDRASIL or in Aberage. Gambling his virtual life on getting the most damage output possible.

[Cure Moderate Wounds]

Lakyus cast her healing magic on her fallen comrade. Light enveloped Tina and then soon dissipated. She opened her eyes and rose up quickly. Her eyes darting all round the room before settling on her comrade.

"Hum, the big oni is gone."

Placing her hand on Tina's shoulder Lakyus looked up at Tri'ade standing nearby.

"Yes it's gone. Thanks to Tri'ade."

Tri'ade averted his gaze from the beautiful priestess. The fact that the whole situation was his fault to begin with made accepting thanks a bit awkward.

"Ahah. It was nothing."

"You're kidding."

With her usual deadpan look on her face Tina looked at Tri'ade before shifting back to Lakyus. "No, he isn't."

"Anyways. It's a bit premature to celebrate. Scale Demons don't work alone."

"Huh?"

"I've fought demons before. Scale Demons, the one you fought, act as enforcers for high lev-ranked demons." Tri'ade corrected himself mid sentence. He wanted to say level but that was a game term so he avoided using it. "I don't know why but demons are attacking the city in force."

"What?!"

"Your not the only one fighting demons tonight. I sent the rest of my squad to make sure Gazef is alright." Tri'ade gripped the flat blade of adamantite great-sword wiping the demon blood off it with his free hand.

"Ah, Tia in trouble."

"Wait your entire squad?" Lakyus imagined Gazef Stronoff facing against a Scale Demon. She couldn't imagine a warrior like the Warrior-Captain losing to one in a one on one fight. But fighting monsters was rarely so simple and Gazef was no adventurer.

"My team yea, the non adventurers are securing the warehouse location. Can't have the kingdom's strongest die tonight. Might cause a panic. Demons would love that." Tri'ade stressed the importance of Gazef Stronoff's reputed strength. If the Warrior-Captain died fighting demons it might shake the rest of the city's defender's moral to fight on.

"It's gotten that bad?"

"Ha... Let's just say you owe me a drink after tonight." Tri'ade didn't drink alcohol but it sounded like something appropriate to say in the situation. Bad-asses in action movies always say something like that Tri'ade thought. And Gagaran did invite Darkness to join them at a tavern after the operation was over.

A smile crept on Lakyus's face. 'You got it. But before that we need to find the rest of my squad."

"Tia."

"Don't worry. She's got Evil Eye to look out for her."

"Hum, right."

Hearing footsteps Tri'ade turned his head to look from where they were coming from. From the hole in the wall that Tina a weapon came into view first. A scythe dripping with human blood. No ordinary scythe either it made out of a solid piece of obsidian metal and the blade looked like a raptor's claw. Tri'ade knew who it was before its wielder came into view.

Lord Greed. One of Demiurge's personal bodyguards, and one of the seven Evil Lords that guarded the Blazing Temple on the Seventh Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He wore a stylized full plate armor that exposed his rippling chest muscles. With two long horns on his head, bat like wings and a mask that gave the appearance of him having six red eyes. Lord Greed's was a quintessential demon lord, the like of which you would expect an end game boss to look like.

And he was here. Tri'ade for his part was not that surprised. When he ordered Demiurge to only use his subordinates tonight it made sense he would send the seven Evil Lords to oversee attacks on the Eight Fingers hideouts. Minus the warehouse hideout Tri'ade's squad was tasked with there were seven other locations.

The girls tensed up immediately and got their weapons ready. They could feel the malevolent aura surrounding Greed. Unholy Aura such as Greed had provided defensive bonuses and weakened those of positive karma nearby. Tri'ade hadn't had much time to experiment with the effects of unholy aura in this New World but whenever he activated his own around Peter he quivered in fear in Tri'ade's presence.

"So you're the one who killed my minion."

"Who are you?" Tri'ade feigned ignorance. If Lakyus or her friend discovered they knew each other he would have to kill them. The initial look of surprise on Greed's face turned to a wicked smile as he caught on.

"Ah. I am Lord Greed. And you are?"

Tri'ade was relieved Greed knew how to act. After dealing with Naberal and her inability to read a situation it was a relief. "Tri'ade Nazerick. What is your purpose here?"

"I am here to execute my master's will." Pointing his blood stained scythe at the Lakyus. 'That includes killing every last human in this place."

Backing up Tri'ade got closer to Lakyus and Tina as if to shield them with his body. "Well that's too bad. Because I won't allow you to do that. You're going to have to disappoint your master."

["Wall of Force!"]

A wall of blue energy materialized between Tri'ade and Lord Greed. It was 1/4th of an inch thick and stretched to the walls of the room they were standing in but curved when it reached the ceiling.

Wall of Force was a fifth tier spell but it was very useful in certain situations. It prevented any physical or incorporeal enemies from passing through it. The wall is also immune to any form of physical attack and could block most spells. The only way to remove a wall of force is through the use of a select range of higher tier spells.. The tier six spell disintegrate being the weakest spell among them.

Defensively speaking the spell is nearly as OP as Tri'ade's High Tier immunities but it did suffer from several drawbacks. One since the Wall of Force was not opaque Gaze attacks from certain races like the Medusa could still harm the caster. Second since spells were blocked by the wall from either direction the caster himself couldn't go on the offensive while it remained in effect. Third the spell did nothing to prevent casters from using teleportation magic to get behind the wall. The final nail in the coffin was the continuous mana required to maintain the spell. Unlike Stone Wall or Wall of Skeletons the spell Wall of Force required the caster to continually feed it mana to remain in effect even after the initial spell cost.

This last drawback limited its usefulness in higher level duels between players. The meta indicated it simply was not worth the sunk mana cost between the initial spell cost and the mana drain afterwards. Coupled with the fact spells often did not have any breakthrough potential with them simply detonating on impact with anything they hit left the utility of the spell quiet low. Tri'ade had only acquired it because he was an obsessive collector of spells due to the fact he could learn new spells via his 'Sacrifice to the Gods' ability.

Lord Greed attacked the wall of force with his scythe to no effect. His scythe bounced off the blue force energy surrounding Tri'ade and the two girls behind him. The Evil Lord began to pace back and forth always maintaining eye contact with Tri'ade. Using his scythe to scratch the surface of the wall of force seeing the small ripples it made as it came into contact with the field.

"We should-"

["Hell Flame!"]

With outstretched hand Greed pointed at Tri'ade as he cast the spell. A small black flame spurted forth from his finger tip and impacted upon the [Wall of Force]. Tiny black flames burst forth into a raging inferno that spread across the surface of the blue energy field surrounding them. Darkness enveloped them as the dark hellish flames burned all around them. But as fierce as the flames were, those behind the [Wall of Force] felt no heat, no shifting wind as the flames continued to burn. The only visible light in this darkness was the blue shimmering energy of the field around them.

When the darkness dissipated they saw the damage the flames had wrought. Beyond a ten foot radius the flames burned away the building around them. With it gone the true extent of the [Wall of Force[ could be seen. The blue energy field was rather than a wall conforming to the building was a sphere extending even into the room below them. The floor they were standing on only remained thanks to the field pinning it in place. The [Hell Flame] spell burned away the rest of the building around the spherical field and caught fire to the wooden structure. These secondary fires were not black but were of normal fire. In this fiery hellscape that the building was becoming Lord Greed was flying with his bat like wings outstretched, the floor below him had collapsed.

"What the-?" Lakyus surveyed the burning building around them and how the floor they were standing on was no longer connected to the rest of it. What had just happened was beyond her knowledge of magic, she had never seen spells used before not even by Evil Eye or by the old woman.

["Vermilion Nova!']

Casting another spell Greed attempted to break through the [Wall of Force] with brute force, glyphs formed in front of his hand and spewed forth a pillar of flame. The pillar crashed upon the [Wall of Force]'s energy field and spread out across its surface. The light of the flames was blinding and Tri'ade put his hand across his eyes to help shield them from the glare.

But the flames died down. As they did Lord Greed flew around the spherical field of blue energy running his scythe across it. Almost as if trying to find a crack or weakness in the layer of shimmering blue energy between him and his prey.

"You have made an impressive barrier but you are trapped like rats."

"What's the plan?" Lakyus turned to Tri'ade for answers. The priestess knew he was much stronger than she was and more experience in battling demons. Certainly he would have a plan of action to defeat the demon lord.

"Plan?"

" _What...What is my plan? Thinking about it I'm lucky Greed was smart enough not to call me master._

"You do have a plan right?

" _And the Adventurers Guild. There is no way they will let this slide. Just like in E-Rantel they'll organize an counter-attack. What then? Fight against my own NPCs? Go AWOL? Reveal my true nature?"_

"Tri'ade?!'

"Sorry. I don't have one." That's right he had no plan. Any semblance of one he had went out the window the second Tri'ade ordered Demiurge to attack Eight Fingers leaving things in his hands. Originally Tri'ade just wanted to gather information on Eight Fingers and form a plan of action then. But things progressed too quickly for him to form a plan of action. Tri'ade didn't see a way to manipulate things to his advantage given how quickly Renner planned on acting on her own. So rather than backing out of attacking Eight Fingers Tri'ade realized he shifted responsibility on to Demiurge. Trusting somehow Demiurge could figure out how to sneakily take over Eight Fingers in the 11th hour with no preparation. Or perhaps if things went wrong Demiurge would take the blame.

"Huh?

"Hmm, we are in trouble." Tina looked at the floor they were standing on and the burning building around them. As soon as the barrier was gone they'd be falling to the ground, exposed to any attack Greed would launch against them.

" _I'm a terrible boss. I need to make things right but first things first, I need to do what I came here to do"_

"Lakyus, Tina" Tri'ade turned around sheathing his weapon. With both of his hands he put them on their backs and drew them close to his chest.

"W-What?! What are you doing?"

"Ecchi."

"[Teleport!]"

Tri'ade, and the girls were enveloped in light as they disappeared from the Majestic Lion Resort. In his vision darkness came over him as the teleportation magic took effect. The burning building Tri'ade, Lakyus and Tina were in was replaced the castle courtyard where Tri'ade had first met Lakyus. The teleportation spell had taken them from the Majestic Lion Resort all the way to Ro Lente Castle a distance of many miles.

The entire time she was held by Tri'ade Lakyus's heart was pounding in her chest and confusion raged in her head as to why Letting go of the girls Tina stepped away with her head surveying the surroundings. With a face nearly red as an apple Lakyus hit Tri'ade's arm. It wasn't a serious punch but more like a rough tap on the side. "If you were going to teleport us just say so!"

"Sorry. I had to trick Greed." Tri'ade was taken aback by Lakyus. It was the first time anyone had ever treated him like that at least since he came to this world. If Naberal was here she probably would have tried to kill Lakyus on the spot. Tri'ade was thankful she was still with Darkness.

"Ah right." She calmed down as the beating in her heart slowed and averted her eyes from Tri'ade. Lakyus didn't try to argue with Tri'ade. She didn't know of a reason why Tri'ade had to trick Greed but she was more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He put his life on the line to save her and she had just hit him. Lakyus could just imagine her Uncle berating her for her undignified behavior.

"Oni leader is scary." Tina's head sneaked out from behind Tri'ade as she said this. Pretending to use him as a shield to hide behind, she continued to have an expressionless face.

"Tina! It isn't the time for games."

"Hehahaha!" The irony of Tina hiding behind him, an arch-devil, while calling her leader a scary oni was too much for him. The ridiculousness of it. He could feel the stares the girls were giving him as he burst out in laughter and tried to compose himself. "Ah, your leader is right. We should inform the Princess as to what's happened immediately."

'But what about the rest of my squad? We need to go back for them." The thought that Boris Axelson and the rest of her squad were still at the resort, likely fighting for their lives, made Lakyus deeply uncomfortable. The men who were with her died sacrificing themselves trying to protect her, the thought of more people dying so she escaped was unsettling. There had to be something she could do to save them, she thought.

"Their alive?"

She averted her gaze from Tri'ade. "I don't know. I sent them to scope out another area of the resort, then we found the demons. "

Tri'ade thought for a moment, it was dangerous to continue to interact with Greed without figuring out a game plan and no adventurer would consider it sane to go alone to save someone from a Demon Lord. If he did what Lakyus was suggesting he would have to reveal just how powerful he really was.

 _Do I really need to hide my strength? Soon enough I'm going to be regarded as a leader of a nation. A ruler. Leaders need to project strength._

"I know I'm asking-"

Drawing his adamantite great-sword from its sheath Tri'ade knew what he had to do. "I'll do it."

"Huh?"

"I'll go back for them. You should inform her highness about the demons." Without waiting for Lakyus' to answer Tri'ade cast the spell "[Teleport!]"

"Wait!' Lakyus watched as blue light enveloped Tri'ade and he disappeared right before her eyes. She tried to grab him as he vanished, her hands found only thin air. He was gone. Lakyus wanted to go with him. She didn't want Tri'ade going in alone getting in danger. But at the same time she wasn't afraid about him getting hurt.

Just what was Tri'ade? His strength, his magic was incredible. It reminded Lakyus of Evil Eye but more so much more. There wasn't just raw strength to the way he moved in battle but a casual elegance to him that was such a stark contrast. Like eviscerating that Scale Demon to pieces was a simple walk in the park. Even against that so called Demon Lord, Tri'ade was like that.

Lakyus would have to think about it later. There were other things that needed her attention. Tri'ade had left her here to help organize a counterattack with the Princess. She wasn't going to disappoint. "Tia, we shouldn't keep the Princess waiting." Tia didn't say anything only nodding in silence as she followed Lakyus out of the courtyard into the Valencia Palace.

* * *

 _ **Afterword.**_

Cliffhangers suck I know. But hey, you won't be awaiting another six months for the continuation of the story. That's not an empty promise but a fact that I will make true. I honestly feel terrible making you my fans wait so long for content. So I do plan on making future chapters shorter than the planned 12-15k long ones in the future to help pump them out faster. I do apologize for that and will try to do better in the future on that.


	23. Volume 3: Re-estize, Chapter 4: Reveal

_**Volume 3: Re-estize, Chapter 4: Reveal**_

 _ **City of Re-Estize-Docks District**_

The adamantite adventurer team Darkness had just arrived to the Eight Fingers target in the Docks District. While The City of Re-Estize was an inland capital it did have a multitude of rivers and man made canals. flowing through the city. This made the city an ideal inland trading port using the rivers to carry cargo and passengers. The docks districts themselves were located near the point where three rivers converge. Needless to say the Warehouse district and the Docks District were located closely together to facilitate the quick transport of goods so Darkness didn't have to travel far to reach their destination on foot.

The rest of the squad remained at the warehouse district while Darkness was sent to offer assistance to Gazef's squad. Tri'ade said they were battling demons and needed their help. That he couldn't join them and was needed elsewhere. This left Peter and the rest of the human members of Darkness a bit worried.

Their master, their savior, their benefactor himself was a demon. He had shared that secret with them. It was inevitable then that they wondered perhaps that Tri'ade was somehow related to the demons attacks. After all he knew about the attacks on the other squads almost immediately and he had those shadowy demons under his command at the Warehouse.

" _If he was behind this attack why send us to help the Warrior-Captain? No some other demon must be behind it. A rival?"_

" _Tri'ade must have used some sort of divination magic like he did with Oneesan."_

No one wanted to think that their master was behind these demon attacks so they quickly dismissed the idea. After all Tri'ade saved them, he brought Ninya and her sister back together, and so much more for them. Other in Darkness people had their own thoughts.

" _I hope there are some Succubi at the docks. Maybe If I caught one Lord Tri'ade could tame it for me?_

Even so most of them were worried. Multiple demonic incursions in the capital of the kingdom? It had to be the work of a powerful demon. They felt stronger than they ever have been since absorbing the soul fragments of the Great Demon Tree in the Forest. But that was strength given to them, they haven't earned it, haven't fought for it tooth and nail. Peter and his friends knew even as they were now they couldn't have defeated an awakened Demon God like their master.

As they approached the wharf heard the sounds of combat. Within the wharf there were multiple ships docked mostly cargo barges. The area leading up to the wharf was an empty field. Waterfront property is valuable re-estate regardless of the era you find yourself in. From it being recreational usages or proximity to cheap transportation access to the waterline always has value, depending on how a city transports its waste. So it can be perceived as strange that this valuable land was not developed and left empty.

But there was of course a reason. For such oddities there's always a reason no matter how mundane. The Crown owned this land at the wharf in the Re-Estize Capital and they kept it clear for one reason, for the nobles to use. When the usual annual conflict between the Re-Estize Capital occured it necessitated the mobilization of the Kingdom's levies to fend off Imperial ambitions. This included the nobles of Re-Estize and their personal retinues. The area before the wharfs was kept clear so the nobles and their servants would have a place to gather before departing on river barges to E-Rantel.

Travel by river was both faster and easier than by foot. But this was a luxury only the most elite of the Kingdom could afford when traveling to E-Rantel. The hundreds of thousands of peasants mobilized from all corners of the Kingdom and lesser noble lords had to oversee that process did not partake in such luxury. Those traveling on the river where the highest ranking nobility and the royal family, those elite men and women that stayed close to the capital. Even if the peasantry and lesser lords were allowed to use the river to transport their soldiers, the rivers were simply not wide enough to accommodate so many people using it at the same time.

It was there they found the Warrior-Captain and his Warrior-Select engaged in battle with a large demon. It's head resembled a goat's and it wielded a giant stone maul. Using its large bat like wings the demon flew over head, corpses of lesser demons littered the ground below along with the dead bodies of the Warrior-Select. The scale demon was its ability to fly like a bird of prey picking off warriors one by one.

Gazef's band hadn't come equipped to deal with such a threat having no ranged weapons at their disposal. They had expected to fight criminals in alleyways. Fights in urban environments did not favor ranged attackers given all the places one could hide. This left Gazef's squad little choice though as they had to wait for the demon to swoop down to maul them to get in range of their spears. Darkness had better means of attack.

"[Imbue Arrow-Acid Arrow]" Lukrut let loose an arrow from his bow and as it left it glowed green. When it impacted the Scale Demon it let forth a splatter of acid across its chest. As an Arcane Archer Lukrut could imbue his arrows with the properties of spells he knows. Each shot still costs mana but it was a class feature of critical importance to Arcane Archers. It was a feature that was added in patches of YGGDRASIL due to the fact that early in the game an Arcane Archers's DPS was significantly lower than other classes. This was due to their inability to use their main weapon while casting spells. As a hybrid-class it already suffered shortcomings compared to more specialized classes so the feature was added to buff the class's DPS.

"[Call Lighting"] A single bolt of lighting stuck the Scale Demon, the bolt ran through the monster and stuck the ground below. One of Gazef's Warrior Select near the point of impact reflexily jumped sideways to avoid the lighting.

"[Magic Arrow]" Six arrows made from pure mana formed in the air around Ninya before surging forth towards the Scale Demon impacting upon its hard goat head.

None of what Darkness had used caused much damage to the Scale Demon. Everything they used were low level attack spells with the highest being Dyne's Call Lighting. They were conserving their mana for a long fight and didn't know the monster's strength. In response to Darkness's attacks the Scale Demon flew higher into the sky to get out of reach. The demon glared with glowing blue eyes at the newcomers to the fight.

"It's Darkness!" One of the Warrior Select shouted out to his Captain Gazef Stronoff.

"So it is!"

"Warrior-Captain! We're here to help" said Peter as he trodden across ground in his heavy plate armor.

"Appreciated." Gazef looked over the group of adventurers. "I don't see Sir Tri'ade with you."

Lukurt took a sidelong glance at Gazef, "Sorry to disappoint but all you got is us." He let loose another arrow at the Scale Demon overhead. The demon narrowly dodged the attack from the archer. In response the demon dived down with great speed towards Lukurt plunging his great maul into the ground with terrifying force.

Not being a fool Lukrut rolled out of the way of the approaching demon to avoid the direct impact of the weapon. But the sheer force of the blow shook the ground the archer now stood temporarily stunning him and the others nearby. Dislodging its great maul from the ground the Scale Demon swung his weapon at Lukrut landing a hit on his side, knocking the archer sideways onto the ground several meters away.

"Lukrut!" Peter rushed to get in between the Scale Demon and his injured friend. The black metal of his shield clashed with the demon's stone maul. Peter's magical blade Ramanus pierced the Scale Demon's arm and he could feel the life essence of the demon being transferred onto him.

"[Slashing Strike!]"

Gazef joined into the fray with magical blade Razor's Edge in hand. The Scale Demon struck back at the Warrior-Captain with it's great stone maul.

"[Impenetrable Fortress!]"

The demon's attack bounced off Razor's Edge as Gazef parried the blow, the weight of the giant stone maul flying back knocked the large demon off balance. Some of the Warrior-Select took the opportunity they saw to impale a wall of spears in the demon's back to no effect. Their non-magical weapons unable to pierce the demon's scales. In response the demon backhanded one of the Warrior-Select and knocking him back into his fellow soldiers.

"Stand back" Gazef shouted to his men. "Darkness and I will handle this beast!" The Warrior-Captain recognized his men's weapons were useless against this demon. Gazef didn't want any more of his men dying to this monster.

Dyne ran over to the fallen Lukrut. "Are you alright?" To Woodwonder's relief, his friend was got off the ground on his own.

"It's embarrassing. Knocked down in front of Narberal. Bastard's gotta pay." Lukrut readied to fire another arrow at the demon.

"[Imbue Arrow-Contagion!]"

The arrow glowed with a pale green color as Lukrut cast the spell and the let it loose against the demon. At this range it was an easy target for the archer and he was more than skilled enough to avoid hitting his comrades. When it hit a pale green color engulfed the demon and his attacks seemed to sag. Contagion was a Tier Four spell, designed to inflict upon the target a debilitating sickness that lowered its physical stats. It normal range was a touch based attack but thanks to Lukrut's special abilities as an Arcane Archer to imbue spells onto his arrows he could strike any target he could hit with his bow with the spell.

Flapping its wings the Scale Demon attempted to fly away until… "[Black Tentacles!]" Eight rubbery black tentacles grappled the demon forcing it back to the ground. The tentacles seemed to spring up from an unnatural dark vortex on the ground below. "You're not getting away!" Ninya said in triumph at effectively pinning the demon.

Bound the sickened demon struggled against his bindings as the tentacles gripped him tight they wrapped around its body. The Scale Demon continued to attack anyone who came close but with an inability to move its defeat seemed imminent.

However before the killing blow could be struck they heard a sweet sultry voice cry out "Ooh! What a fun little spell!"

They turned to see who it was and their gaze turned upwards to the sky. Up there they could see a strange looking succubus. She had blue hair, a long thick pink tail and bat-like wings. She wore very revealing clothing as expected of a Succubus but her shoulders were covered by a long cape and stockings reaching her inner thigh. Tattoos with indiscernible patterns could be seen on the side of her breasts and thighs. The cape itself was colored in a royal purple with gold trimmings with a golden clasp with three embedded gems embedded. Rather than a leather bikini like most summoned Succubi wore a revealing leather top dyed in dark purple and trimmed in the same royal purple used for her cape. This top struggled to contain her F cup sized breasts, leather straps wrapped around her exposed midriff. Her thong was dyed in the same dark purple was even buttoned on to this leather top. To complete this extravagant outfit she wore sleeves attached to a golden ring on her middle finger.

"Another demon?"

"Not just any demon!" The stylish succubus spun around in the air. "I am Evil Lord Lust, the Succubus Queen! Be grateful you have the pleasure of playing with me tonight."

"[Greater Dispel Magic]"

A ball of light shot from Lust's fingertips. The mass of black tentacles wrapped around the Scale Demon vanished and it regained its lost vitality. With the tentacles holding it back gone it shot up in the air to go to Lust.

"Aw they hurt you didn't they? What a bunch of meanies." Lust kissed the Scale Demon on the head and the wounds the demon had on its body slowly vanished. "There all better."

"What is your purpose here demon?" Gazef Stronoff asked

"Not fair. I told you my name. Tell me yours." Lust pouted and puffed her cheeks trying her best to look offended in the cutest way she could.

"Uh" The Warrior-Captain was taken aback for a moment by the cutesy act but he recovered quickly. "I am Warrior-Captain Gazef Stronoff. It is my and my men's sworn duty to protect the Re-Estize Kingdom."

"And we are the adamantite adventurer team Darkness"

"Oh! Your the ones boss talked about ." Lust clapped her hands in excitement. "B-but… the Supreme Being is not here." Lust smile turned into a grimace. "Why isn't he here?! He should be with you! Where is he?! " The warm cutesy playful demeanor of the succubus turned vicious in an instant. The anger, the killing intent projected from Lust shook those who saw her to their core. All except one.

"My master had better things to do than deal with an airhead like you."

The killing intent dissipated. Crestfallen tears swelled up in the succubus's eyes "How can you say that! You're so cold. So mean."

Gazef turned to look at Narberal. " _What did she just say?"_

"But I suppose your right. I got a job to do. Can't disappoint boss." She wiped away her tears.

"And that is?" The Warrior-Captain pointed his sword at the Succubus as he said this. After Lust's aura of killing intent Gazef needed to show his men he wasn't afraid of her. Even if that was a lie. She was very powerful,dangerous, his warrior instincts told him that much.

"My master Jabbaloath wants some silly artifact in this miserable city of yours. You boys playing with your sticks... Well you are not welcome tonight. You're a distraction. " Lust waved her hand dismissively at the Scale Demon and it flew away. Descending to the ground she landed several feet away from Gazef. Leaning forward Lust smiled as she showed her ample cleavage. "Soo I'm here to end you."

"[Mass Hysteria]"

Spears and swords clattered to the ground as members of the Warrior-Select spontaneously dance. Some others began to maniacally laugh and others still scattered in every direction. The only ones not affected by the ensuing pandemonium were the adventurers. Darkness had been equipped with magical items that made them immune to mind control as a safeguard to prevent them from turning against Ainz Ooal Gown.

Lust danced with Gazef who had no control over his own body. Wrapping herself around him she kissed him on the lips. As she did the color slowly drained from his face.

"Get away from him!"

"[Flow Acceleration!] [Smash!]"

Slamming against Lust with his adamantite shield Peter tried pushing the succubus off the Warrior-Captain. But as soon as he came into contact with her all the momentum behind his attack seemed to vanish. Lust didn't move an inch, she didn't even seem bothered at Peter's attempt to smash her, Lust continued to dance with Gazef.

"Oh you got plenty to give. Don't you Captain? Most I give my special kisses fall to their knees afterwards."

"Warrior" Sweat glistened on Gazef's forehead as his normal color returned. His breathing was heavy as he felt exhausted from the Succubus's kiss.

"Hmm?"

"It's Warrior-Captain."

"[Mental Enhancement!]"

Gazef used a martial art that increases one's focus and mental abilities to try to free himself from Lust's spell. He focused on stopping his limbs from moving in the rhythm of Lust's spell. The Warrior-Captain tried to push Lust away and swing his weapon at the demon.

But... nothing happened. Try as he might even with his mind augmented he couldn't break free of the spell. A soft hand caressed Gazef's beard as he struggled. "That's cute. You still have hope."

Ramanus, Peter's vampiric blade, swept across Lust's back. The blade seemed to pass right through her. Lust ignored Peter's attempts at killing her and continued to dance with Gazef. The Succubus Queen preferred to have fun with her victim of choice.

"Dammit! Ninya do you have any magic that could help?" Normally Peter would never resort to asking mid battle like this. But since gaining the soul fragments from the Great Evil Tree the capabilities of his friends grew far beyond what they were familiar with. And they didn't have any time to practice with them as a group before tonight.

"I think so [Greater Dispel Magic!]"

Ninya targeted Gazef with her magic. Greater Dispel Magic was a Tier Six spell, the same Lust had used to dispel Ninya's Black Tentacles Spell, and it was of the highest tier magic Ninya could cast. The light of dispelling magic shot forth from her hands and enveloped the Warrior-Captain.

And nothing happened. Ninya fell to her knees in dismay. Even with all the power Tri'ade so graciously bestowed upon her and her friends, nothing seemed to work against this demon. There was nothing she could do to free the Warrior-Captain from Lust's spell.

Perhaps Narberal knew of a more powerful spell but she mostly just observed from the sidelines when Darkness fought In desperation Ninya looked for her for help but she just shook her head.

"They want you so badly!" Lust said as she pressed her boobs against Gazef's chiseled chest. "Such a lucky man." She turned her head to Peter. "You can have him!" Lust grabbed Gazef's arms and began to spin around. The force of the spin lifted his feet up from the ground. At that moment when Gazef had the least control over himself Lust threw him at Peter. The Warrior-Captain crash landed on Peter knocking both of them to the ground.

The rest of Darkness began attacking Lust with everything they had, no longer afraid of hitting Gazef Stronoff in the crossfire. Narberal even took part in the barrage of spells.

"[Grasping Arrow!]"

"[Call Lighting!]

"[Twin Dragon Lighting!]"

"[Dragon Lighting!]"

The light of all the flashes of lighting was blinding. The crackle of the electrical discharges filled the air briefly drowning out the manic laughter of Gazef's Warrior-Select. The smile on the succubus was wide. When the dust had settled Darkness stared in disbelief. Lust continued to be unfazed by their efforts to kill her.

"That tickled."

"What in the hell?!"

"She must be immune to lighting attacks."

"Hehhe no silly. You're just weak. Honey let me show you the strength gap.. [Hellball!]"

A small ball of black flame formed in Lust's hand before shooting forth with great speed past Darkness. This black fireball hit a light post at the far end of the wharf's clearing. A pale blue light appeared, this light appeared to be in the shape of a large hemispherical ball. The sound of a massive explosion soon followed as the pale blue light stopped its expansion. Black Flames burst forth from where the black flame first struck the light post, the flames expanded rapidly only stopping when pressed against the light of the ball containing it. Black flames swirled around in the ball of light like a tornado, sparks of light flickered around the Hell Ball as the hell flame raged within.

Ninya and Narberal were only a few feet away from the edge of the crater the spell made. When the black flames died down, when the light faded, Darkness saw the extent of the devastation. A massive spherical hole had been created destroying much of the wharf's clearing. Everything within the ball had been vaporized, including many of the hysterical members of the Warrior Select that had been there.

"I-Impossible!"

"What kind of spell was that?!"

"I don't know!"

"I may be cute and oh so huggable, but I'm an Evil Lord!" Lust hugged herself squeezing her boobs together. "You can't fight me. There's nothing you can do. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

Swaying her hips Lust sauntered up to one of Gazef's warriors. The warrior was on his knees laughing uncontrollably. Tears ran down his face, with a palpable look of terror in his eyes as the succubus approached. "I'm going to have such fun." Lust said as he picked the man up with one hand to kiss him on the lips. The man's muffled laughter stopped as the life was drained from him. He fell limp onto the ground and the succubus turned to her next victim.

"Can you use teleport?" Narberal whispered in Ninya's ear.

"Huh?"

"We need to leave. Once she's eaten the insects were next." Narberal's stoic expression remained betraying no hint of emotion. But Ninya felt a cold chill run down her spine. This was bad. Narberal never intervened in fights, not even in the countless times she and her friends nearly died completing quests, She only observed. But this situation was different, Ninya knew that, and that terrified her.

"R-Right. I can cast teleport. I think." Ninya had not yet used the spell yet but she had a feeling in her gut, she could use the magic. Narberal nodded and shook her head towards the boys. Gazef had gotten up continued dancing in place unable to stop his body's rhythm. The girls rushed over to them. Fear quickened Ninya's steps. Grabbing Lukrut's sleeve she led him over to the rest of the group. Dyne was there healing the two warriors of their impact injuries.

"Shit! This is bad."

"I've never seen such strength aside from Mr. Tri'ade."

"Ugh I guess were lucky she's toying with us." Peter said as Dyne helped him up.

"We need to leave." Naberal grabbed Dyne's and Peter's arms. "You two are coming with me."

"Then your'e with me Warrior-Captain." She took a firm hold of Gazef' arm.

"Dam it all." Gazef looked on as another one of his Warrior-Select collapsed from Lust's embrace. The Warrior-Captain cursed his unresponsive body. He felt so dam helpless, so useless.

"[Teleportation!]"

"[Teleportation!]"

* * *

 _ **City of Re-Estize-Upper District-Majestic Lion Resort**_

His vision returned to him as he arrived. Tri'ade had teleported back to the same place outside the Majestic Lion resort but the scene before him was different. Smoke billowed out of the resort's windows, in some places the roof had already collapsed showing the glow of the fire within.

It was not exactly an ideal place to search for survivors. So Tri'ade cast "[Fly]" to get a better look of things from the air. There wouldn't be anyone inside the building and if they were they'd be dead soon anyway. He didn't want to bother searching through all the debris. Flying around the resort Tri'ade tried to spot any survivors fleeing from the burning building. He might not have exactly known who was in Lakyyus's squad but they would be distinguished easily enough. There should be no other humans at the resort thanks to Lord Greed clearing the area beforehand.

Circling around the building Tri'ade got lucky. He saw Re-Estize soldiers battling a group of hellhounds in the back of the resort. Among them was a grizzled man with a sword in hand that luminated with holy light, a paladin, no doubt he was one of those retired adventurers the marquis had on retainer.

Hovering in the air above the soldiers Tri'ade cast a spell. "[Maximize Magic Tidal Wave!]"

Water materialized beneath the grass into a ten foot tall wave on the flank of the hellhounds attacking the soldiers. The water swept many of the hellhounds in its wake and after traveling two dozen feet the wave crashed on the ground. Six hellhounds laid sprawled prone on the ground and their bodies disappear in a puff of light. Strangely enough, as if the water was an illusion the grass was not wet or muddy after the wave traveled across it. It simply vanished at the end of the spell.

The soldiers quickly ganged up on the remaining two hellhounds killing them. Boris Axelson the red paladin cleaved the remaining hound's head off with his holy sword. What looked to be a tough battle for their lives quickly turned into slaughter for the pack of lesser demons. All thanks to the man in the sky. One that Boris Axleson recognized as Tri'ade as he made his descent.

"Adamantite class. You're Tri'ade of Darkness. I thank you for your assistance today." The paladin rested the flat side of his blade on his shoulder. Tri'ade recognized the weapon as a falchion however the hilt of the sword seemed more appropriate for a great-sword given how huge the guard on it was. Tri'ade speculated Boris used it to parry from opponents using larger weapons, another adaptation of weapon design in a world of monsters perhaps.

"No time for pleasantries. We need to get out of here quickly."

"What? Why?" Confusion was evident on the soldiers' faces. While encountering low level demons was strange they managed to hold their own. Realization turned to fear as they saw a new figure in the sky above. The moonlit shadow of the figure's bat like wings draped across them. It was Lord Greed. A chill ran down their spines as they looked upon the demon lord. They could feel his unholy and malevolent aura, it seemed to piece their very souls.

"Again you are in my way. Do you like making things difficult for me?"

"My apologies. But it wouldn't be very heroic If I just left these men to die."

Greed softly chuckled "No I suppose it wouldn't."

The paladin, Boris Axelson stepped forward to stand beside Tri'ade. "You know this demon?" He was unnerved about how casually the two were talking with one another.

"Yea. May I introduce to you Lord Greed, the demon in charge of attacking this place." Greed did a slight bow to Tri'ade but remained silent.

"Already teleported Blue Rose out of here. You need to high tail it out of here." Tri'ade lowered his voice pretending to care that Greed would hear him as he spoke to Boris. Greed though would remain passive until he believed Tri'ade wanted to fight. He was just pretending to be hostile to Tri'ade after all and didn't want to upset the Supreme Being by making a move.

"What will you do?"

"This." pointing his greatsword at Greed, Tri'ade raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "Lord Greed, I Lord Tri'ade of Nazarick request a duel."

"I accept your challenge." Greed readied his scythe but still waited. Tri'ade would have to make the first move so he rushed forward. The sound of their clash was deafening as the momentum of the charge added to the impact as the black steel of adamantite great-sword clashed with Greed's dark scythe.

Both of them exchanged blows and Tri'ade felt a tinge of pain as Greed's scythe hit him across his chest. It reminded him that unlike the natives Greed could actually hurt him. The fight, its ferocity and speed mesmerized Boris and his men. None of them seen anyone move like they did, the Chief Warrior paled in comparison to what they were seeing before them.

" _Is this really the power of an adamantite class? No… He is magic user too. No one who divides his focus like that is this strong! It's impossible!"_

"[Force Explosion!]" A shock-wave erupted between them as Tri'ade cast the spell, knocking Greed back. Boris raised his hand across his face to shield his eyes as a fierce gust of wind reached him kicking up dirt.

"What are you doing standing around for? Run you fools!"

Boris and the rest of the Marquis's soldiers ran like scared rabbits from the gaze of wolves. With Tri'ade urging them to flee what sense of duty or courage compelling them to stay shattered. Seeing the two self proclaimed lords fight the humans knew flight was their only chance of survival. The flurry of blows and counter attacks each of these warriors were capable of were beyond their experience. They knew they had little to contribute but a quick death. None of these fighters wished for that, to experience such an ignoble end, to die in vain.

As they fled the clash of blades between Greed and Tri'ade continued. Though in truth there was no serious effort to wound the other. Even as the humans went out of their sight Tri'ade kept up the attack to make sure any stragglers left.

"[Darkness]"

Light was nearly extinguished in the space between Tri'ade and his opponent. He did not continue the attack for the darkness was not intended for his opponent, but for others. Both Tri'ade and Greed possessed Darkvision so the low level spell did not affect them in any negative way. The only effect it had on Tri'ade was now that his darkvision activated his perspective of color was warped, seeing only differing shades of grey.

"Have you minions spare those cowards. Their survival suits me."

"As you command it shall be Supreme one.'

Casting more anti-divination spells to ensure their privacy in the darkness Tri'ade could finally relax for a moment.

"It should be safe to talk now."

Greed immediately went on his hands and knees with his head lowered onto the ground. A sign of utmost humility and submission to one of the few beings he considered greater than himself. "Please I beg your forgiveness! I didn't mean to hurt you."

The initial thought in Tri'ade's mind that Greed was overreacting. He then remembered how Albedo acted after she learned he got hurt while sparing with Cocytus. She went on a tirade berating the poor boy until Tri'ade put a stop to was kinda sweet to know how much Albedo cared about him but it did cause problems when she loses control.

"It's alright. I forgive you. Rise."

At his lord's command Greed rose while the darkness continued to surround them both. "Thank you Lord. I won't forget your mercy."

"Enough of that. You played your part well. The humans know nothing of your ties to me as it should be. Now I order you to do me another service."

"Anything master Tri'ade. Your desire is my command."

The potential implications of what Greed said disturbed Tri'ade but he brushed them aside for now. It was difficult enough improvising the roleplay of lord of Nazarick. He needed to get things back under his control and to do that he needed to direct Demiurge.

"Return to Demiurge and inform him that I wish for us to conduct a wargame. We need to sow more chaos tonight. "

"A wargame?"

"Yes think of it like a sparring match but between groups of people. Myself against Demiurge. My forces against his fighting over an objective, it doesn't matter what. Only that it's enough to distract people from the attack on Eight Fingers."

A fight for the fate of the city. Just like Tri'ade had done at E-Rantel when the army of the undead arose from the graveyard district. Or saving Carne from the Sunlight Scripture. Simple, straightforward with everyone knowing their role to play. A chance to show Ainz Ooal Goal's might and portray it in a positive light to citizens of Re-estize. A simple narrative should keep many people from questioning about tonight's attack.

"I shall commit this to memory. With your permission, I will leave at once to fulfill your desires."

"Go." Tri'ade said with a wave of his hand dismissing Greed from his presence. The Darkness spell wouldn't last indefinitely and the longer they chatted it increased the chances of something going wrong or someone finding them together. "[Teleport]" Greed cast the spell and vanished from his master's sight leaving Tri'ade alone in the magical darkness.

The smell of burning wood lingered in the air as the Majestic Lion Resort continued to burn and the smoke rose up in the night sky. As the darkness spell around Tri'ade ended his eyes were drawn to the flames engulfing the once ornate building, the marble lions at the entrance becoming charred and blackened by the smoke, the glass windows a luxury in themselves shattered as the building began to collapse.

" _How long did it take to build this place? Years? A decade?"_

The owner of this place ,whoever he was, no doubt took pride in it. Before tonight the owner, if he was still alive, felt safe with Eight Fingers protecting the place. After all Eight Fingers was one of the strongest organizations in the entire Kingdom with enforcers rivaling adamantite-class adventurers. Yet in a single night this place was laid to waste, a smoldering ruin. All thanks to an unexpected attack from an alien threat no one could have seen coming. It reminded Tri'ade even with his damage immunity that there was still the threat of the unknown, the unforeseen, the alien. That you shouldn't become too prideful least you invite your own fall. That as long as the anomaly continued to exist, bringing new players to this world, Ainz Ooal Gown would never be safe.

Tri'ade didn't have all night to muse on these things though. So he got out his Mirror of Remote Viewing from his inventory and had it float in front of him. He wished to see how Darkness was doing. Narberal was with them and could send a message if they got in trouble but he was worried. If they found Wrath at the docks the Evil Lord could easily rip them to shreds. An Evil Lord Wrath is notorious for their hate, their aggro, and probably would kill the humans before realizing Narberal was with them.

Before he could use the mirror Tri'ade felt the wind shift. Hearing a voice coming from behind him he turned to see who it was. "You don't look like your in trouble." It was Evil Eye. Levitating in the sky above him. She made her descent towards him but kept a respectable distance away from Tri'ade.

"Evil Eye. Why are you here?" Tri'ade tried to be nonchalant about being caught using his mirror. He figured it'd be more suspicious to hide it in haste. If he acted like he had done something wrong she would become suspicious of him and his intentions. Plus if the three foot long floating mirror vanished into a dark portal, it would probably lead to even more questions from her.

"Lakyus thought you needed some help. Begged me to come." Lakyus wouldn't have done that unless it was a seriously scary demon. Evil Eye knew something strange was going on but didn't know what.

"Ah that sweet of her." Tri'ade smiled at the thought of Lakyus pleading with her friend to help him. "But I got things handled here."

"Yea I see that." She thought Tri'ade's smirk as bit creepy. Evil Eye crossed her arms and leaned to the side to get a better look at the mirror near him. As it was floating in mid air the thing was clearly a magical item. She had never seen anything quite like it. The surface of the mirror reflected nothing, the surface appeared like a dark jewel.

"What is that?" She pointed at the mirror, her curiosity piqued. The color in the world faded to black and white right after Evil Eye asked that question. Tri'ade had cast [Time Stop] silently freezing time around him. He waited for a few seconds looking at Evil Eye with bated breath but she remained motionless.

"No time manipulation countermeasures huh?" Tri'ade was testing Evil Eye. He had thought she was possibly a high level player like him but her lack of countermeasures disproved that. Nearly all players invested in anti-time magic equipment or abilities. Tri'ade eyes shifted to Evileye's finger, the one she used to point at the mirror. Wrapped around her index finger was a ring with a very familiar design. So familiar in fact he would risk testing her like this.

Walking over to the frozen in time masked girl Tri'ade took a closer look at the ring. Sure enough it was as he suspected. An Epic Ring of Non-Detection very much like the one he was currently wearing. Most definitely an item from YGGDRASIL, perhaps from a player like him who was transported to this world in the past.

"Did you inherit it?" Tri'ade breathed the question aloud. He was speaking to himself as the time frozen world around him permitted no one else to speak. There are God-kin in this world. Descendants of the players who later became known as the Six Great Gods. No doubt other players have came to this world and married npcs making their own bloodlines. It could explain why Evil-Eye looked so young, so small and was powerful enough to be an adamantite adventurer.

If that was the case though why the mask? Hiding one's true power was one thing but one's appearance is another. If she was human and of a player-bloodline she wouldn't need to do that. Of course not all players had human avatars. Still all this speculation wasn't getting him anywhere and time was running out. Time Stop's duration would end soon enough.

The only way to get an answer was to remove her mask and demand where she got that ring. That carried its own risks. He would likely antagonize her by forcing the answers out of her. But he might be able to mitigate those by erasing her memory. Tri'ade had been experimenting on prisoners with Control Amnesia a tenth tier spell. The bloody spell took so much mana to maintain he couldn't use it for long. That made mastering the spell difficult. He had some success in memory wipes but not fabricating new ones.

Still it was a huge risk and one that didn't need to happen if he was patient. If he worked to gain Evil Eye's trust over time and probe her she might slip it out in casual conversation. But the question nagged at him. What, who was Evil Eye? Was she another player? A monster or just some child prodigy with a Gothic fetish? The prospect of meeting another player, another person, who could possibly understand what was too great. All he had to do was reach out to her. Now.

Tri'ade cast a spell "[Delay Teleport Object]" on Evil Eye's mask. It was a seventh tier spell that allowed a caster to mark an object for future teleportation to another location. It required the caster to touch the object in question and to cast the spell again to actually teleport the object to another location. It would be rather overpowered in combat or as a tool to steal items from other players if it weren't for one thing. The fact that teleport object had to trump a magical item's spell resistance if the owner did not give permission. Higher grade magical items had effectively higher spell resistances and World Items were impossible to teleport away without their owners consent. Not that he expected much trouble from Evil Eye's mask. He doubted it was a high grade magic item.

Before time resumed its normal flow Tri'ade hurried back to where he cast [Time Stop]. He shifted around on his feet trying to figure out exactly in relation to Evil Eye when the spell began. This took several seconds but he felt confident on the position he settled on.

Time resumed its normal flow and color came back to the world. Evil Eye saw as Tri'ade's arms seemed to shift position in a blur from where they were a moment ago. She blinked thinking she was seeing things.

"It's a relic from YGGDRASIL. It's why I knew Lakyus needed help." Tri'ade answered Evil Eye's question from before the [Time Stop] spell took effect. This redirected Evil Eye's focus away from what she thought she saw.

"YGGDRASIL. You know of YGGDRASIL?" She sounded surprised not confused. Evil Eye recognized the name. That made Tri'ade anxious and he could feel his pulse pound. But did his best to remain calm.

"I answered your question. Now answer mine. Where did you get that ring?"

"What?' The question threw her off guard. She didn't even know what ring he was talking about.

"That Epic Ring of Non-detection. Like this one. Where did you get it?" To stress his point Tri'ade pointed to his own Epic Ring of Non-detection that looked exactly like hers. He was growing nonchalant attitude Tri'ade had previously was gone replaced with a visible annoyance. He demanded an answer from her.

"From a friend." Evil Eye looked upon the ring on her index finger, the silver ring with a large blue inlaid gem, and caressed it. It was a gift from the leader of the Thirteen Heroes. She got it nearly two centuries ago after fighting them in Inveria. The Thirteen heroes came to purge the ruined capital of the horde of mindless zombies dwelling within. This Included the zombified corpses of her mother and father.

Evil Eye attacked the heroes in a rage after seeing her parents cut down. When she was beaten to her surprise leader listened to her story and spared her life. The Vampire Lord Landfall died that day and Evil Eye was born. In her new life she had friends, a new family at least for a time. This ring was more than an artifact from YGGDRASIL, it was one of the few things she had to remind her of those days. It was a precious memento.

Tri'ade knew exactly what the ring was, hell he even had one of his own. He knew of YGGDRASIL. More than that, he became an adamantite adventurer nearly overnight despite being a complete unknown. . No one with power like that remains in obscurity. Fame follows the powerful. If he was to be believed he also fought a demon lord on his own. Evil Eye herself had just come from rescuing Gargaran and Tina from a so called Evil Lord. She barely escaped with her life using teleportation magic yet Tri'ade looked to have nary a scratch on him. Evil Eye connected the dots in her head.

"You. You are a player." It would make sense. That floating mirror was over three feet long, there was no way Tri'ade could carry it around with him. Unless that is he had what leader had, what he called an "inventory system". An item storage magic unique to players.

Tri'ade had to restrain himself from jumping from joy hearing that. She knew of players! The odds of her being a player herself rose exponentially. But he had to temper expectations. He couldn't give too much away, he already had to a great extent in his eagerness for answers, Tri'ade couldn't afford more. After all If Evil Eye learned he wanted to meet another player she might pretend to be one to get information from him.

"Define player." Tri'ade acted coy to play it safe.

"What?"

"That word has many meanings including a womanizer, a skirt chaser. Should I feel insulted?"

"No! No no. Players are a race of powerful beings from YGGDRASIL." Evil Eye was confused. She never knew that player meant other things. The word always meant to her the race of powerful beings from YGGDRASIL like the Six Great Gods, or leader and the black knight.

Tri'ade was disappointed by Evil Eye's answer as it made him certain that she was not a player. Still there was one question that lingered in his mind. "Ah then I am a player. What are you?"

'What am I?" Evil Eye didn't know why Tri'ade was asking the question.

Evil Eye's mask vanished in shimmering blue light and reappeared in Tri'ades hand. He had silently cast [Teleport Object] once more activating the spell effect. With the mask gone Evil Eye's inhuman features were visible. Her red eyes glowed in the darkness of the night and she had the fangs of a predator.

"So your'e a vampire. A child of Cainabel."

"H-How?" Seeing her mask appear in Tri'ade's hand sent her mind reeling into confusion. In all her centuries of research into magic Evil Eye never heard of magic capable of doing what Tri'ade had just done. Evil Eye knew teleportation magic but she never teleported objects and she definitely never teleported anyone without touching them first.

Ignoring Evil Eye's question Tri'ade silently cast [Teleport Object] again to return Evil Eye's mask back on her face. She touched her mask with her hands making sure it was fit on her face properly and amazingly finding nothing wrong.

"Does Lakyus know that your a vampire?" It would certainly explain Blue Rose's willingness to fight the Sunlight Scripture to defend a village of demihumans. If they could accept a vampire as their friend they couldn't hold much prejudice against non-humans.

She paused before answering." She does. Everyone in Blue Rose does. They're my friends."

"Then I'll trust their judgement and keep quiet about it." Normally the thing to do when an adventurer encountered a vampire was to kill it immediately. Failing that report it to the adventurers guild given their nature as powerful undead. Tri'ade had no such interest in following adventurer protocol though. Evil Eye was far too valuable.

"I ah appreciate that." Tri'ade trusting her word and the general lack of hostility was surprising. She expected to fight for her life not find ...acceptance? She was the former Vampire Lord Landfall after all Evil Eye was used to people fearing her and trying to kill her. She even joined up with Blue Rose as a result of a lost fight.

A loud crashing sound came as the roof of the Majestic Lion Resort collapsed in on itself. The fire having burnt away the remaining support beams holding it aloft. The faint smell of burning flesh of the corpses within traveled on the wind.

As Tri'ade watched the resort burn he felt a strange sense of melancholy wash over him. "You know it's sad. To think how much has been lost over the years. It really is... I might be the only one left who remembers the beginning of YGGDRASIL." As he said that Tri'ade felt truly alone in the world. For a moment he wondered how things might be different if HeroHero stayed till the servers shut down. Would he have enjoyed living in this new world like he did? Or would he have hated becoming a monster and losing his family?

"Th-the beginning?"

"The beginning and the end of YGGDRASIL. I was there for it all." Tri'ade linked his arms behind his back and looked over to Evil Eye. "You know I was happy to see humans in this world. After the destruction of Midgard I had feared humanity died. It's amazing to see how much of YGGDRASIL has survived here."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Evil Eye didn't understand half of it. The destruction of Midgard, YGGDRASIL surviving here none of that made sense to her. She only knew of YGGDRASIL as the home of the player race. But if half of what he said was true, it would mean he could probably answer any question Evil Eye or Rigrit could ever want to ask about YGGDRASIL. Perhaps even about the disturbance that brings people and things from YGGDRASIL, about Tier Magic!

"There's so much I want to ask you."

"Yea I imagine you do but our time is short. So speak wisely child of Cainabel." Tri'ade also wanted answers but part of him wanted to keep playing up his mystique to Evil Eye.

"About that. Why do you call me that?"

Turning around to face Evil Eye he took a breath before answering. "Because that is what you are. All Vampires are children of Cainabel. He was the first vampire and your divine ancestor."

"Divine ancestor? Don't make me laugh. I'm not interested in myths" Evil Eye gave up believing in any gods a long time ago when they refused to answer her prayers to save her family, her people.

"Cainabel is no myth. I know because I met him. I know because me and my friends were the ones who killed him. I know because my people created him."

"Players created vampires?"

"Player is just a title. One used for those of us who interacted with YGGDRASIL and its inhabitants. We created YGGDRASIL and everything within it. Vampires, humans, elves, goblins, and all other races in YGGDRASIL." Tri'ade was playing up the whole god angle. If he was going to reveal his true power to the world it'd be better if the natives idolized him rather than hated him. Or at the very least feared him. It could prove useful. After all the conquistadors of Spain conquered Mexico by posing as their pagan gods didn't they?

Taking a step back Evil Eye tried to process what he just said. If that was true just how many races came from YGGDRASIL? Dragons with their wild magic predating Tier Magic might be the only ingenious species of this world. Meaning what Evil-Eye thought about players was all wrong.

"Impossible. Players aren't gods." Evil-Eye knew this. Leader wasn't a god. He was a man. A good man that grew powerful but a man all the same.

Tri'ade probably should have known a vampire would lean towards atheism. "That is irrelevant. Over ten million people made YGGDRASIL possible. When so many contribute anything is possible, given enough time." It was true from a certain point of view. Tri'ade remembered when he first signed up as a beta tester for YGGDRASIL. Tri'ade just signed up like everyone else to get into early access. Only ever filling out a handful of bug reports to GM's before release day came.

So technically in a roundabout way he could take a tiny bit of credit for YGGDRASIL right? Even if the developers did the bulk of the work and deserve most of the credit. Players who beta tested and paid for the game were also responsible for the game's existence. After all the developers did shut down the servers after the player base continued to dwindle.

"What exactly is YGGDRASIL? I thought it was just a place but you make it sound much more than that."

"That…. Is a complicated. YGGDRASIL was the world tree, but also much more, including everything it connected to."

"Huh?"

Tri'ade scratched his head. "Without knowing the context It'd probably take years to explain it to you. Even then I might fail in getting you to understand." Tri'ade had no idea how he would explain the concept of computers or the idea of video games. Or even if he should try. He would have to rely heavily on analogies and spinning the truth. Making it more along the lines of a creation myth. Such a thing would be easier for the natives and NPC's to understand. Tri'ade had tried explaining some of it to Narberal before how humans and "Terrans" looked similar, but he knew it was something he would need to sink considerable time on later.

"Try me." Evil Eye felt she was being talked down to. She had other people underestimate her because of her child-like appearance before.

"Not tonight." Tri'ade pointed again to the ring of epic non-detection that Evil Eye was wearing. "You said a friend gave you that ring. Could I meet them?"

Touching her ring Evil Eye then shook her head. "No they died centuries ago. B-But there are others I'd like you to meet."

"I see. I would very much like that." Hearing that disappointed him. Tri'ade had hoped they might have been a player considering what Evil Eye knew. Given Tri'ade's ability to speak with the dead getting information from her friend might still be possible. But that would require knowing where Evil Eye's friend was buried and straight up asking her would be risky. He had already pressed his luck forcefully unmasking Evil Eye. If she wasn't so shocked seeing a player perhaps the loli vampire would be more upset with him.

A bright light began to show in the distance glowing crimson. The light was from a wall of fire surrounding part of the capital city. To say it was large would not do it justice the wall of flame towered many times higher than the tallest building in the city. It was the [Flames of Gehenna] Demiurge must have gotten Tri'ade's message. It was a breathtaking sight with [Flames of Gehenna] appearing in the middle of the capital city of Re-estize. Tri'ade found himself staring into the crimson fire wall appreciating its beauty.

"Eh?!" Evil Eye paused for a while looking in awe of the flames and then spoke softly. "What is that?

"The Flames of Gehenna. Hell has come to Re-estize." Tri'ade turned to look back at Evil Eye. "The demons are gathering. We don't have much time."

"What should we do? The rest of Blue Rose are already back at the palace."

"I'm going to check up on the rest of my team." Casting a [message] spell Tri'ade contacted Narberal Gamma.

" _[Narberal status report]"_

" _[Yes Master. The humans and I were successful in securing Gazef Stronoff. We are back at the courtyard in the castle.]"_

" _[Good work. Wait for me there. I'll be there soon]"_

Tri'ade took a hold of his Mirror of Remote Viewing and put it back into his inventory. The large floating mirror vanished into a dark portal that opened in front of him.

"[Gate]" A larger portal opened up before them.

"What is that?"

"A fold in space time. Advanced teleportation magic leading back to Ro Lente Castle." Turning back to face Evil Eye, Tri'ade offered his outstretched hand. "Are you coming with?"

In that moment Evil Eye was reminded of her old leader, Tatchi-sama. "Yes!" She took a hold of Tri'ade's hand. To Tri'ade her hand felt so small, delicate and warmer than Tri'ade expected from an undead.

"Let's go then. We have a city to save!" Hand in hand, the two of them entered the portal to Ro Lente Castle.

* * *

 _ **Afterword.**_

Things took longer than I expected but hey whats new? Hmm maybe I would put in more of an afterword but it's currently 2:44 AM in the morning and I got work tomorrow. Spent most of the night reading over the draft of the chapter and editing it. I miss my PervySage editor. If anyone wants previews to my work volunteer to be my beta reader. I just ask you use suggestions while in google docs rather than direct edits. Helps me keep track of things.

I'm going to enjoy reading your reviews tomorrow. Was a hoot reading Babylon and rmarcano321's binge reading reviews. Oh and I did post a reddit thread in Overlord about the fanfiction if you guys want to discuss stuff there. Just search Tri'ade on Reddit can't post a link on


End file.
